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Gbe conquest of trouble 

an& 

®be peace of <5o& 



Zhe Conquest of trouble 



ano 



Zhc peace of (Sob 



flh\\8it\Q8 

by fA 

THE RIGHT REV. C. H. BRENT, D.D. 

BISHOP OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

Author of " With God in Prayer" 
"The Inspiration of Responsibility" 

Etc. 



Before I was troubled I went wrong: but non> have I kept thy 
n>ora\ *P*. cxix, 67 



PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



C'1»tj 






COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY 

GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY 

Published March, 1916 



r 



All Rights Reserved 
Printed in U. S. A. 

APR -I 1916 

)C!.A427481 



r 



Elfsabetb ZllMlte IRefo 

B 6^mpatbctic frieno of tbe troubled 

ii&B triend 



preface 

These pages are illustrative of a 
use of Holy Scripture which is 
fruitful of much help. A single 
topic, as considered by a group of 
writers, or in the New Testament, 
is tracked and made to yield up to 
the devout mind something of its 
spiritual content. In the Prayer 
Book version of the Psalter (which 
follows the Vulgate where it varies 
from the Hebrew) I have taken the 
word " trouble," wherever it oc- 
curs, and sought to discover how 
God has taught men to deal with it. 
The Latin word is usually "tribu- 
latio" and the Greek " 0Xfy«.» In 
the King James version and the 
Revised Version of the Bible, chap- 
ters and verses are sometimes dif- 
7 



preface 

ferently numbered from the ver- 
sion of the Psalter from which my 
quotations are taken. Nor is the 
word rendered " trouble' ' here al- 
ways so translated there. But the 
substance is the same and a com- 
parison between the different ver- 
sions is serviceable. 

Any close consideration of trou- 
ble may easily run into self -pitying 
morbidness. Most of us begin at 
any rate to meet our experiences of 
trouble with grieved surprise or 
resentment. We assume that, 
whatever the lot of others, we have 
a registered title to happiness. 
Such an assumption is due to a 
false conception of life. We count 
ourselves the favorites of God who 
is going to be indulgent to us and, 
if need be for our comfort, to ig- 
nore the very laws of His own 
8 



preface 

being to guard us from suffering. 
Or again, there are people who 
luxuriate, not in trouble, it is true, 
but in thinking that they are in 
trouble, people whose troubles 
ought to be ignored. The thoughts 
of these pages will bring scant 
comfort to the dilettanti. They 
are written for those who have a 
virile conception of life and who 
aim to make it more virile. 

I am not attempting an exposi- 
tion, nor is this modest book to be 
considered a commentary, of Holy 
Scripture. Rather is it the exhibi- 
tion of a method of using the Bible, 
with the prayerful hope that my 
readers will make the method their 
own in connection with other sub- 
jects. The musings and reflections 
frequently have only indirect con- 



9 



preface 

nection with the verse which gave 
them birth. 

The second half of the book is 
" peace' ' as dealt with in the New 
Testament. The Eevised Version 
with fuller references by Moulton 
has been used for the purpose. 
Upon the outburst of the war, now 
torturing the world, I looked for 
consolation and found it in the 
consideration of God's peace. By- 
embracing the ideal one gains for 
himself by anticipation that which 
will be outwardly manifested some 
day. I had originally no thought 
of passing on to others, what was 
written down for my own encour- 
agement and invigoration, but it 
chances to be a further illustration 
of the method used in the " trou- 
ble" Psalms and may be more or 
less profitable to my friends. The 
10 



preface 

thoughts of other men are of great 
service, perhaps I ought simply to 
say of service, to those to whom 
they are given only so far as they 
become sifted, personalized and di- 
gested by each recipient. The 
thoughts most effective as a crea- 
tive force are those which come as 
a special message to the individual 
in times of quiet talking with God. 
The real object in the publication 
of this book is to stimulate the 
prayerful use of Holy Scripture. 
These are days in which men 
need, and will need, all the strength 
and fortitude that human life has 
capacity for. It is not to be im- 
parted by galvanic shock or ex- 
ternal agents. It cannot come by 
chance. But God is constantly 
pouring it through certain chan- 
nels to which we must apply our- 
11 



preface 

selves with ardor. There are men 
who confine themselves to reading 
the thoughts of others and believe 
that this is a satisfactory substi- 
tute for wrestling with Holy- 
Scripture in search of a blessing. 
The Sacraments are sure channels 
of strength and wisdom but they 
are largely formal and inoperative 
—this particularly applies to the 
clergy and intelligent laymen— if 
the nourishment of a regular and 
devout use of Holy Scripture does 
not accompany their use. The 
Bible is a major Sacrament, not a 
minor charm. 

C. H. B. 
Jolo, P. I. 

12 October, 1915. 



12 



Gbe conquest of trouble 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

It is astonishing what a constant 
topic " trouble" is in the Psalter. 
In these pages only those verses 
are quoted in which the actual 
word occurs in the version most fa- 
miliar to Churchmen. This, how- 
ever, by no means exhausts all re- 
ferences to the subject. Specific 
troubles are mentioned by name 
and considered in Psalm after 
Psalm. 

Before proceeding with our 
study let two things be noted: 1. 
The people who wrote these words 
spoke from the spacious depth of 
personal experience. 2. There is 
not a single note of sentimentality 
in the entire book of Psalms, nor 
is there a " trouble" Psalm which 
15 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

is devoid of courage. Most of 
them are written in terms of vic- 
tory or hope of victory. 

The first mention of trouble 
comes from the lips of one who is 
persecuted in a rising degree: 

"Lord, how are they increased 
that trouble me—" 

1. "They rise against me"— 
there is active hostility (v. 2) 
among an increasing number. 

2. They look upon me as de- 
fenceless—alone among men and 
"there is no help for him in his 
God" (v. 2). 

The troubles are more than 
counterbalanced by God, the un- 
failing champion of the troubled. 
The very mention of hostility ex- 
cites and enlivens faith, tending to 
16 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

unveil and exalt God's attributes: 
"Thou O Lord art: 

1. My defender (shield) ; 

2. My worship (glory) ; 

3. The lifter up of my head" 
(v. 3). ^ 

God is actively protecting me: 
He is the sun and centre of my 
life: He delivers me from depres- 
sion and shame, so that I walk 
erect among men. God answers 
my cry from the valley of trouble 
and heeds me from the hill-top of 
His holiness (v. 4). Trusting to 
his care I sleep refreshingly in the 
arms of His love (v. 5). I awake 
to find myself beset by foes innum- 
erable—but the recreation of rest 
in God's arms leaves me unafraid 
(v. 6) . He who held me safe in the 
hours of my unconsciousness will 
be up and doing to the confusion 
17 



3be Conquest of trouble 

and shame of the ungodly: He 
will break their power (v. 7). In 
the Lord is a state of perpetual 
safety— it is His special benedic- 
tion for His people (v. 8). 

pd. fv. 1 

"Thou hast set me at liberty 
when I was in trouble." 

This trouble was as it were an 
imprisonment. 

There was not freedom to use 
oneself. 

Our powers are always fettered 
if they are so engrossed by some 
untoward condition as to leave us 
passive, or vainly struggling in its 
control. God is the source of 
righteousness. It is He who is our 
defender and worship ; so is He our 
liberty. 

God gives us liberty in trouble 
18 



Gbe conquest of (trouble 

by enabling us to use it to our ad- 
vantage and to move freely in its 
darkness and perils. He eman- 
cipates us from our fears. The 
sting of trouble is fear. 

"My soul also is sore troubled." 
This whole Psalm is by one deeply 
troubled in body and soul (v. 7). 
"My beauty is gone for very trou- 
ble." 

God is called upon to spare and 
in the end faith anticipates His 
sure response. Relief comes with 
the conviction that God heeds. We 
can hail the dawn even before day 
breaks if we have the foresight of 
faith. Comeliness is corroded by 
unbeaten trouble ; it is transfigured 
by conquered trouble. There is in 
this Psalm something of self-pity, 
19 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

that enemy of God's pity. With- 
out God's pity, the certainty that 
He is effectively operating upon 
our trouble, the mind must turn 
in upon itself and self-pity ensues. 
It is very easy to aggravate trou- 
ble by dwelling too intently upon it 
and watching its clouds as they 
drift in, very much as the fasci- 
nated bird watches the serpent 
about to devour it. Nothing in- 
tensifies trouble like timidity and 
passivity. There is an oriental 
proverb which says that "you can- 
not prevent the birds of despair 
from flying over your head, but 
you need not ask them to nest in 
your hair." 

Ps. i x, 9 

"The Lord also will be a defence 
for the oppressed : even a refuge in 
due time of trouble." 
20 



ftbe Gcmqueat of trouble 

God's nature is to stand on the 
side of those who are dealt un- 
justly with. He becomes their 
daysman. It is the likeness of 
God in us that moves us to cham- 
pion the weak cause and to help 
the under dog. Injustice kindles 
the active justice of God. He is 
also a resort, a harbor of refuge to 
which we can always flee when 
trouble comes. Consider the avail- 
ability of God— like a mother's 
arms and bosom. They always 
await the home-coming of her chil- 
dren. Our Lord's wide-stretched 
arms are a harbor. Being lifted 
up He calls all men unto Him. It 
is not the Lord's forces, or His re- 
sources, or His gifts that are for 
the troubled. It is Himself —a fel- 
lowship, a communion. "Due 
time"— a neat phrase ! God is due 
when trouble is due. 
21 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

Pa. ft, 13 

" Consider the trouble which I 
suffer of them that hate me." 

An appeal to God for mercy by 
one plunged into trouble by the 
hate of his fellows, one of the most 
grievous forms of trouble. God 
recognizes trouble as a ground of 
appeal for compassion. "Come 
unto me all ye that travail and are 
heavy laden and I will give you 
rest." 

"Why standeth thou so far off, 
O Lord : and hidest thy face in the 
needful time of trouble?" 

This is a challenge to God to ex- 
hibit His compassion and power. 
The ungodly are laying their plots 
and compassing their plans. There 



22 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

is delay in God's interference. He 
is standing aside and averting His 
face. The conscious realization of 
God's protection is wanting. His 
essential character is not chal- 
lenged. The Psalmist interrogates 
His mode. His temporary in- 
action is disquieting. It is char- 
acteristic of a creature of time to 
be impatient, but a consideration 
of God's attributes (w. 18, 19, 20) 
quiets his importunity. 

90* xit. 5, 6 

"Now, for the comfortless trou- 
bles' sake of the needy: and be- 
cause of the deep sighing of the 
poor, I will up, saith the Lord: 
and will help every one from him 
that swelleth against him, and will 
set him at rest." 

"Comfortless trouble"— there is 
23 



Woe Conquest of trouble 

such trouble as is too deep for 
human sympathy to touch or aid. 
It is not beyond God's reach. It 
is this that stirs God to help man. 
"The deep sighing of the poor"— 
sometimes so deep that no ear less 
sensitive and loving than God's 
can hear it. God hears and arises 
in His might. "I will set him in 
safety at whom they puff" (R. V.). 
The security of the innocent who 
are assailed by enemies— " I will 
set him in safety." 

"If I be cast down, they that 
trouble me will rejoice at it." 

This is a marvelous Psalm be- 
ginning with a moan and ending 
with a song. The adversary de- 
sires not only to break our fortunes 
but also our spirit. If he accom- 
24 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

plishes the former only, he knows 
within his soul that he is van- 
quished. Browning's Instans Ty- 
rannies is a commentary on this 
Psalm. 

"Do you see? Just my vengeance 

complete, 
The man sprang to his feet, 
Stood erect, caught at God's skirts, 

and prayed! 
— So, I was afraid." 

As long as I, in my deep, essen- 
tial self am not "moved" (R. V.), 
I am master of the situation. If 
my enemy sees me depressed and 
sorrowful he will rejoice. We may 
not give grounds of gladness to the 
adversary. That is to furnish the 
foe with ammunition for use 
against us. Not is it the appear- 
25 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

ance of courage and calmness that 
we want : it is its reality. Trust in 
God's mercy makes the heart joy- 
ful in His salvation. The face of 
the enemy fades and retreats as 
one is lost in the enveloping at- 
mosphere of God's protecting love. 

IPs. vou 4 

"They that run after another 
god: shall have great trouble." 

The way of peace and joy is with 
the one, true God: the seekers after 
other gods will meet great trouble 
as their portion. Every movement 
away from God is a storm-breeder 
for the soul. God alone shows the 
path of life which leads to His 
presence where is the fulness of 
joy and pleasure for evermore. 



26 



Zhc Conquest of trouble 

"Hide me under the shadow of 
thy wings from the ungodly that 
trouble me." 

God puts His own protecting 
self between us and the ungodly 
that trouble us. It is He in us and 
around us that bears the chief 
shock of battle. Not only is it a 
destructive power to the ungodly 
but a tender, consoling power to us 
—as it were the soft, tremulous 
wings of a mother bird. 

"In my trouble I will call upon 
the Lord-" 

Trouble does drive us to God 
when nothing else will. (Cf. S. 
Luke xv, 15 ff.) But how wonder- 
ful it is when we are living with 
God in glad days to press closer to 
27 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

Him under the stimulus of trouble. 
"We already know exactly where 
He is and what He is. We go to 
Him as we have always been going 
to Him, only now with a fresh 
problem— the problem of trouble 
instead of the problem of joy. 
There is no panic in our approach, 
no uncertainty, no groping. This 
Psalmist has God always as his 
strength (v. 1) and his might is 
ever enveloping him. If he calls 
upon God in trouble it is but pur- 
suing an established custom in new 
conditions. 

"They prevented me in the day 
of my trouble: but the Lord was 
my upholder." 

Man's evil activity is met by 
Crod's good activity. See the 
28 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

Koran in loc. to the effect that man 
plots against us but God plots too. 
While man is opposing, God is 
counter-opposing and bringing us 
to the liberty of His sons. 

"The Lord hear thee in the day 
of trouble." This is the pious 
wish or prayer for the man of God, 
the annointed of the Lord, whose 
heart is right. The whole Psalm 
is a superb challenge to trouble. 

ps. m* n 

u O go not from me; for trouble 
is hard at hand: and there is none 
to help me." 

The appeal is not to a far off God 

but to one who is already hard at 

hand. When trouble is hard at 

hand, God is more so. He presses 

29 



£be conquest of trouble 

into our lives in direct proportion 
to our needs. God is the sole but 
adequate helper. It was so of old 
— "Our fathers hoped in thee; 
they trusted in thee, and thou didst 
deliver them" (v. 4). This was 
signally and uniquely and com- 
pletely true in the case of our 
Saviour. 

Ps* ttiiit 5 

"Thou shalt prepare a table be- 
fore me against them that trouble 
me." 

God will feed us so that we may 
be strong. He does not treat us as 
beings incapable of self-defence. 
He does not defend us so much 
from without as from within. He 
feeds us with the Bread of Heaven 
that giveth life unto the world. 
Building us up with and in Him- 
30 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

self, He lets trouble confront us 
that we may confound it. The 
feast prepared is not a compensa- 
tion for trouble but a weapon 
against it. 

pa. nv t 21 

" Deliver Israel, O God: out of 
all his troubles." 

Israel, poor, imperfect, back- 
sliding, repentant Israel!— that is, 
myself. Full of good desires, ar- 
dent hopes, spasmodic struggles; 
constantly in troubles bred of my 
own faults. As often as we turn, 
we the covenant people, we shall 
find God is indeed Deliverer, 
Saviour. Troubles drive us to 
God : God drives troubles from us 
when he does not beckon us 
through them, which is His cus- 
tomary way. 

31 



Gbe Conqueet of trouble 

p0. UVii, 5 

"For in the time of trouble he 
shall hide me in his tabernacle; 
yea, in the secret place of his 
dwelling shall he hide me, and set 
me up upon a rock of stone." 

He who in the ordinary course 
of everyday life makes nearness to 
God, companionship with Him, his 
chief goal, when trouble comes will 
be given entrance into the sojourn- 
ing place of God on earth and will 
find secret doors into God's mys- 
teries. New intimacy with God 
will spring up and a strong, per- 
manent foundation will be builded 
for our feet. 

**♦ m t 

"Thou didst turn thy face from 
me: and I was troubled." 

Our sense of security, when all 
32 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

goes well, tends to make us lean on 
our prosperity as being our sup- 
port and strength. God seems to 
have made our position impreg- 
nable. But God disappears from 
our prosperity, the prosperity it- 
self perhaps remaining, and im- 
mediately we are troubled and turn 
to God right humbly as to Him 
without whom wealth is as ashes 
and life is not life at all. The sup- 
port of God of which we are not 
conscious from moment to moment, 
the answer to prayer, which we do 
not recognize as answer, are God's 
most delicate attentions to human 
life. 

Ps. u&, a 

"I will be glad and rejoice in thy 
mercy: for thou hast considered 



33 



£be conquest of trouble 

my trouble, and hast known my 
soul in adversities." 

God is familiar with human 
trouble. He knows our case by 
having had experimental knowl- 
edge, victorious knowledge, in and 
through the Incarnation. He has 
not given my trouble a cursory 
glance: He has considered it, 
weighed it, studied my soul in re- 
lationship to its adversities. He 
knows perfectly what to do and 
when. His handling of my case is 
personal and merciful. There is 
no blundering or experimenting. 
Therefore I have reason to be glad 
and rejoice. 

Ps* mU in 

"Have mercy upon me, O Lord, 
for I am in trouble : and mine eye 



34 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

is consumed for very heaviness: 
yea, my; soul and my body." 

There is sudden transition of 
thought— sense of security in 
God's mercy changes to an appeal 
for His mercy. Trouble thickens 
and mercy must be enlarged. Life 
is a seesaw from weakness to 
strength and from strength to 
weakness. There is always a depth 
of woe hitherto unknown, always 
a height of mercy hitherto unex- 
plored. 

ps. %uii t a 

"Thou art a place to hide me in; 
thou shalt preserve me from trou- 
ble: thou shalt compass me about 
with songs of deliverance." 

There are two distinct thoughts 
relative to God's providence— He 
preserves from and He preserves 
35 



TLbe <tonque0t of trouble 

in trouble. This is the former. He 
is a covert from the tempest so 
that its blast will not touch us. 
"In the great water floods they 
shall not come nigh him." 

Sometimes we know that we are 
in the midst of storm, that we are 
in the heart of a burning, fiery fur- 
nace, but we are unharmed. At 
other times we are protected and 
preserved from hidden and secret 
dangers of which we know nothing 
at the moment. Again there are 
times when the storm strikes us 
full and fair, marking us out to re- 
ceive its utmost fury. Yet we are 
not swept away. God preserves 
us in and carries us through trou- 
ble. But it is when God is easily 
found, when there is nothing to 
distract us from concentrated ef- 
fort to reach Him, that we are to 
36 



Cbe Conquest of trouble 

learn how to find safe and peaceful 
and strong places in Him into 
"which we can retreat in the day of 
trouble. 

"The righteous cry and the Lord 
heareth them : and delivereth them 
out of all their troubles." 

The effective direction of human 
complaint is Godward. There is 
no weakness or cowardice in our 
exhibiting our wounds to God, 
though these may be in seeking for 
human pity. "The righteous cry 
(or cried) . ' ' God hears and heeds. 
He delivereth them out of all their 
troubles. Here it is not a quick 
separation from but a certain sup- 
porting through. No snatching 
away by a parent who hates to see 
a child hard beset but a steady 
37 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

guidance and strengthening through 
all the troubles. 

" Great are the troubles of the 
righteous: but the Lord delivereth 
him out of all." 

A reinforcement of the former 
statement personalized. The gen- 
eral is attached to the individual 
case. The troubles of the right- 
eous are the most suffering trou- 
bles, because of sensitiveness ex- 
traordinary which develops with 
growth Godward, because they are 
volitional troubles which could be 
avoided, and because the greater 
the movement for righteousness 
the greater the counter movement 
of the enemy. 



88 



Gbe Conqueet of trouble 

"The salvation of the righteous 
cometh of the Lord: who is also 
their strength in the time of trou- 
ble.' ' God works in and through 
the righteous in the time of trou- 
ble. 

God works in and through the 
righteous in the time of trouble. 
The troubled servant gives God 
opportunity to declare His strength 
in weakness. 

f>0. mvfif , fi 

"I am brought into so great trou- 
ble and misery: that I go mourn- 
ing all the day long." 

The natural result of trouble is 
depression and heaviness. Sorrow 
hangs its heavy veil over the soul. 
There is no rift in the clouds. The 



39 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

whole long day is clouded as by a 
night of gloom. 

t>0* XXXViiU n 

"My lovers and my neighbors 
did stand looking upon my trouble : 
and my kinsmen stood afar off." 

There is an absence of under- 
standing and sympathy on the part 
of those to whom we would look 
for support. Those whom we love 
and among whom we live are 
averse to identifying themselves 
with us in our trouble. They are 
afraid of getting involved in it. 
What trouble is comparable to the 
alienation or indifference of lovers, 
kinsmen and friends? Few have 
to experience such a horror of 
desolation. It is bad enough to 
have enemies from the ranks of 
those we dislike or do not know. 
40 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

When it comes to the warmth of 
sympathy and affection fading 
into coldness and hatred, the cli- 
max of trouble is reached. When 
a man is in trouble the epigram, 
"He that is not with me is against 
me," holds good. 

"For innumerable troubles are 
come about me; my sins have 
taken such hold upon me, that I am 
not able to look up; yea, they are 
more in number than the hairs of 
my head, and my heart hath failed 
me." 

The troubles that come through 
our personal sins exceed in depth 
and diversity all other troubles— 
they are "innumerable." The 
memory of sin so fills our con- 
sciousness that when memory is 
41 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

acutely active thus, all else is ex- 
cluded from consideration. The 
true direction of human gaze is up- 
ward. Byes to heaven, feet on 
earth. But sin puts its grappling 
hooks upon us and pulls us down 
into stooping, heavily-moving 
creatures with our eyes upon our 
feet. "We are unable to look up." 
The paralyzing consciousness of 
sinfulness is not a mere general 
discomfort but a clear realization 
and a forced contemplation of the 
legions of definite sins which are 
"more in number than the hairs of 
my head." Courage flees from us 
—"my heart hath failed me." 
There is a heart-failure of the soul 
which can easily run into the di- 
lapidation of accidie (See Chau- 
cer's The Parson's Tale). 
There is in this Psalm that pal- 
42 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

pitating movement of the soul that 
heats between despair and hope, 
trepidation and courage, which is 
a feature of the sensitive spiritual 
life but which ends as it begins 
with firm faith in God's salvation, 
(cf. w. 1-3 & 19-21). God's great 
purpose for man is all conquering. 
The very depth of our necessity 
quickens His compassion and sets 
His power in motion. Though our 
prayers can never bend His will to 
our will, they can always bend His 
compassionate gaze toward our 
self-inflicted wounds and speed 
His healing hand toward our soul- 
sickness— " As for me I am poor 
and needy: but the Lord careth for 
me. Thou art my helper and re- 
deemer: make no long tarrying, O 
my God." 



43 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

" Blessed is lie that considereth 
the poor and needy: the Lord shall 
deliver him in the time of trouble. " 

One may not consider the poor 
and needy out of self-interest as a 
sort of happiness— insurance, but 
as a matter of fact those who out 
of love and mercy do deeds of 
mercy are ' 'blessed" and the Lord 
will look on their poverty and need 
with compassion and salvation. 
One thus disposed goes through 
the experience of sickness (v. 3), 
of conviction of sin (v. 4), and of 
hostile attack (v. 5), of treachery 
(v. 9) . But the Lord delivers him 
in the time of trouble and he 
blesses God (w. 10-13);. 



« 



3be Conquest of trouble 

" Wherefore hidest thou thy 
face; and forgettest our misery 
and trouble." 

The Psalmist is looking to the 
record of God's faithfulness in 
history for grounds to believe that 
in the present confusion and na- 
tional distress God will arise, help 
and deliver His people for His 
mercy's sake. He calls upon God 
to awaken and manifest Himself 
in the existing misery and trouble. 
He does not understand why God 
should delay action. But he knows 
that it is merely delay for a reason 
and not indifference or a lapse into 
inaction. 

This is a thought for these inter- 
necine days. 



45 



&be Conquest of trouble 

ps. xivf, 1 

"God is our hope and strength: 
a very present help in trouble.' ' 

Permanence matched against 
impermanence to the confusion 
and discomfiture of the latter. 
First God's unalterable character 
in His relation to men is opened up 
— "our hope and strength." Al- 
ways, everywhere He is this. Un- 
less this is our conviction it is 
difficult to find Him a ' i very present 
help in trouble." If perchance 
through His mercy we find Him 
first as the God of the troubled, 
it is incumbent upon us to keep Him 
as the God of the relieved. Con- 
sider the immediacy of God's help 
—"very present." Our troubled 
condition becomes His swift con- 
cern. Like the darting of the 
mother bird to her nest at the cry 
46 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

of her young so the ever present 
God becomes "very present" when 
we raise the signal of distress. 
God intensifies His presence at will. 
He is never absent. "The Lord of 
hosts is with us" (w. 7, 11)— that 
is the key thought. He actively 
aids but He is our refuge to whom 
we flee for succor. 

p0. I, 15 

"And call upon me in tlie time 
of trouble : so will I hear thee, and 
thou shalt praise me." 

"And"— It is he whose habit is 
to offer God thanksgiving and to 
pay his vows unto the Most High- 
est (the magnificence of the double 
superlative!) who is to call upon 
Him in the time of trouble. God 
is not a mere trouble-insurance 
who pays out His help in times 
47 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

of stress as an accident insurance 
company awards its payments to 
its beneficiaries. The call of the 
troubled servant (not of an alien) 
rivets God's attention and the 
cry of distress melts into a hymn 
of praise. It is not an unprac- 
ticed voice that speaks to God. 
The times change from prosperity 
to trouble and the tone of voice 
changes from major to minor with 
the times. Then when the sunshine 
again returns the new hymn of joy 
and gladness has a fresh and beau- 
tiful ring to it. What gladness so 
great as that of the troubled saint 
safely piloted through suffering! 

P0. If, 17 

"The sacrifice of God is a trou- 
bled spirit: a broken and contrite 
heart, O God, shalt thou not 
despise." 

48 



Zbc Conquest of trouble 

This is the " Psalm of the Trou- 
bled Spirit." If we would dis- 
cover the meaning of a troubled 
spirit we must try to empty this 
Psalm of its spiritual contents by 
putting our lives at its disposal 
like Savanarola and the whole 
great host of penitents. 

Hitherto we have considered 
trouble as something to escape 
from by fleeing to God as a refuge 
or to conquer by leaning on the 
right hand of the Most Highest. 
Now we find it used in another 
sense. It is something to be self- 
induced, and cultivated, and pre- 
sented to God as a sacrifice— "a 
troubled spirit." Self-satisfac- 
tion is dead, pride is broken as a 
faggot is snapped across the knee, 
the heart is punctured with the 
needle of contrition. The troubled 
49 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

spirit God does not despise. The 
trouble is heart-hunger for Him 
and He more than satisfies it. 

"For he hath delivered me out 
of all my trouble: and mine eye 
hath seen his desire upon mine 
enemies." 

One wonders whether the mak- 
ing of this Psalm did not cover a 
long stretch of time, first a period 
of prayer and spiritual combat and 
afterwards the response of victory. 
To him who offers the whole sacri- 
fice of himself to God there is im- 
mediate comfort and relief (v. 6). 
Praising God in the furnace of 
trouble changes the complexion 
and operation of the fire. Instead 
of an angry menace it becomes a 
beacon light: instead of lashing 
50 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

with angry tongues, it purifies and 
refines. By anticipation trouble is 
removed, it ceases to exist, when 
we offer ourselves to God and for- 
get ourselves in our praise of Him. 
Going through trouble with God is 
the one process of being " delivered 
out of all my trouble.' ' The 
prayer for relief from trouble may 
be merely a coward's cry. It is 
for mastery not for relief that we 
seek, until "mine eye hath seen his 
desire upon mine enemies." Trou- 
ble driven away, not actually de- 
feated, lurks about, gathering 
strength and watching opportunity 
for a fresh onset. The unclean 
spirit (S. Luke xi) merely "went 
out" of the man. He was not 
mastered and in consequence 
"the last state of that man was 
worse than the first." The cou- 
51 



3be Conquest of trouble 

quest, not the mere repulsion, of 
trouble, alone is adequate and final. 

ps.Xvf, t 

"Be merciful unto me. O God, 
for man goeth about to devour me : 
lie is daily fighting and troubling 
me." 

This is the Psalm of the man 
who is only "sometime afraid" 
(v. 3). Would God I were afraid 
only as seldom as "sometime!" It 
is the machinations and aggres- 
sion of "man" that trouble him. 
The height of God's mercy is set 
against the depth of man's cruelty 
toward his own kind. "I have put 
my trust in God, and will not fear 
what flesh can do unto me" (v. 4). 
"Yea, in God have I put my trust: 
I will not be afraid what man can 
do unto me." 

52 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

ps. lis* IB 

"As for me, I will sing of thy 
power, and will praise thy mercy 
betimes in the morning: for thou 
hast been my defence and refuge 
in the day of my trouble.' ' 

Praise as a means of conquering 
trouble has been considered. Here 
we have praise because trouble has 
been conquered. God has proved 
His faithfulness. He has been a 
defence and refuge in the day of 
trouble. Contemplation of what 
He has been is the first instinctive 
movement of the heart upon 
awakening. There is no spurring 
of a sluggish gratitude. It is the 
unprompted and spontaneous 
hymn of the early morning. Be- 
fore the tasks and burdens of the 
day are faced the mind sweeps 
through the past and rejoices in 
53 



Zbc Conquest of GrouWe 

the power trf God so freely placed 
at the disposal of the troubled. 

IPs* i& 11 

"0 be thou our help in trouble: 
for vain is the help of man." 

There are many troubles in 
which human love and sympathy 
are an enormous support. But so 
profound is human life that ex- 
periences of such proportions as 
to be far out of reach of human 
help, come to us sooner or later. 
Nothing is adequate to minister to 
us at such times except an Incar- 
nate God, one whose human career 
has exhausted the full content of 
man's life in pain and in joy. It 
is well to learn this at the begin- 
ning so as to know as a fact and 
not a theory that God is our suffi- 
ciency. It is for this reason— that 
54 



&be Conquest of trouble 

He knows experimentally and vic- 
toriously— thai He can help, when 
a mere travelling companion whose 
pain is as great as ours and who, 
too, fails on the road, can do little 
or nothing. Every man's com- 
petency to help the troubled is 
proportioned not to his experience 
alone, but to his experience in 
Christ, to his victorious exper- 
ience. We must not scorn human 
sympathy and help, which is often 
wondrously rich and beautiful and 
comforting. It is the great social 
virtue. But neither may we de- 
pend upon it. The strongest man 
is he who, if put to the supreme 
test, can say "I can do all things 
through Christ who strengtheneth 
me." Human help is dear and 
sweet, when it is of the right sort, 
but it is not indispensable. To de- 
55 



Zhc Conquest of trouble 

pend upon human smiles is to run 
the risk of eye-service, to bid for 
popularity, to fear when men 
frown or look at us askance. The 
pain of human hostility must be 
deeply felt by one whose nature is 
social but it has no right to unsettle 
us, to deflect us from our course, 
to break the completeness of our 
life in and with Christ. 

P0. iwU in 

"Thou broughtest us into the 
snare: and laidest trouble upon 
our loins." 

It is of the chastening trouble of 
the Lord's choosing and assigning 
that the Psalmist sings. The 
Master Workman is tempering his 
steel. He is not afraid to put the 
metal in the fire because He knows 
of what sort of stuff it is made. 
56 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

So far from being hurt it will be 
improved. He snares us into His 
mercy; He overlays us with the 
gold of loving kindness that is 
wrapped in the sack-cloth of trou- 
ble. The chastisement clears our 
dimmed vision, it enlarges our as- 
pirations, it crystallizes our reso- 
lution and we make such vows as 
are born only in the forcing house 
of trouble. It may look as though 
we were caught in the plot of the 
hostile. But it is in God's plot 
that we are snared. If the enemy 
plots, God counterplots. 

"I will go into thine house with 
burnt-offerings: and will pay thee 
my vows, which I promised with 
my lips, and spake with my mouth, 
when I was in trouble." 
57 



Zbc conquest of trouble 

Trouble is a time for formulat- 
ing plans for tlie time of freedom 
when relief shall have come. 
Trouble-vows ought not to be mere 
fear-vows. If so they may never 
breed action. A vow taken in 
trouble is perhaps the most dang- 
erous of all vows. It is the com- 
monest, too. When the pressure of 
trouble is lifted the necessity of 
the vow may seem annulled. But 
it is none the less binding. The 
fulfilment of a trouble-vow is a 
high form of thanksgiving. It car- 
ries into our renewed prosperity 
and freedom all the blessing and 
benefit contained in suffering. It 
is not only putting a formula into 
effect: it is the germination of a 
seed containing unlimited and sur- 
prising fruitfulness. 



58 



Ebe conquest of trouble 

"And hide not thy face from thy 
servant, for I am in trouble: O 
haste thee, and hear me." 

God's hidden face— ah, that is 
the greatest of great troubles to 
the pious nature ! He is as a man 
who has taken his journey into a 
far country. But is it not just 
here that we have God's highest 
exhibition of trust in us His stew- 
ards % He leaves us to ourselves not 
because He is indifferent but be- 
cause He is full of concern for us. 
It is the parent teaching the child 
to walk by removing his arm from 
our clinging hands— yet not re- 
moving it too far. The hidden 
face of God! What does it tell us 
but that we are equipped for suc- 
cess, that the trouble is inferior to 
us in strength, that our stored vi- 
59 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

tality gained from glimpses of the 
king in His beauty is all at our 
disposal, that God's presence and 
support are not dependent on our 
unbroken consciousness of them. 
Faith does not always call down 
torrents of consolation, often not 
so much as a single drop. God is 
training us in virility and will not 
caress us for every bruise or 
scratch: He will not mollycoddle 
us if we are scared of the dark or a 
dog shows its teeth at us. Even 
when His Son was in the deepest 
gloom, torn by the cruellest pain, 
God's love demanded a hidden 
face. Strength to win flows to us 
through stern channels barren of 
verdure and unrelieved by flowers 
of consolation upon its banks. 
Sometimes when we are disconso- 
late and aching with loneliness 
60 



©be Conquest of trouble 

God is nearest to us. Our cry to 
Him to haste and to hear brings 
such a pressure of His life upon 
our need as to build us up perma- 
nently in some waste or wrecked 
portion of our nature. 

"0 what great troubles and ad- 
versities hast thou showed me ! and 
yet didst thou turn and refresh 
me: yea, and broughtest me from 
the deep of the earth again." 

The trouble did not overwhelm 
for all the while the silent, hidden 
God was sustaining and guiding. 
Often we cry to God from the 
midst of trouble, expecting a voice. 
Because we hear nothing we think 
our appeal has not been heeded. It 
is not so. In reality God has given 
us the greater, for which we did 
61 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

not ask, instead of the lesser, for 
which we did ask. We asked for 
a voice and we received an influx 
of strength, we asked for consola- 
tion and we received comfort, we 
asked for a crumb and we received 
a loaf. It is a fruitful occupation 
to reflect on the dark days and 
hard places of the past when God 
seemed to have left us alone in 
spite of our cries and entreaties, 
and out of which we came safely, 
even victoriously. Eetrospect will 
reveal to us the presence which at 
the time was veiled. Memory and 
imagination are agents of fellow- 
ship. They gather in the past 
and anticipate the future as though 
they were the present. By the aid 
of faith all that was is and all that 
is to be is. There is a false dis- 
62 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

tinction made between real and 
■unreal. The refined power of a 
spiritualized memory or imagina- 
tion brings about a relationship 
with men and facts as operative 
and intense as that which works 
through physical nearness. (Con- 
sider the Communion of Saints in 
the light of this truth. The con- 
ception in the "Blue Bird" of 
Maeterlinck that the remembered 
dead are not dead— that there are 
no dead— is not a figurative fancy 
but an eternal fact). 

This troubled servant makes a 
magnificent prayer. He does not 
ask for God's least, but God's 
greatest. He does not ask God to 
do all— only enough to enable him 
to do his own best. "Be thou my 
stronghold, whereunto I may al- 
way resort; thou hast promised to 
63 



Zbc (tonque0t of trouble 

help me, for thou art my house of 
defence and my castle" (v. 2). "I 
will go forth in the strength of the 
Lord God: and will make mention 
pf thy righteousness only" (v. 14). 
Out of the strong comes the 
sweet. The refreshment of 
strength is superior to the strength 
of refreshment. God takes us by 
the hand, a hand, hidden and un- 
felt often, and we find ourselves 
able to explore the darkest recesses 
of trouble and adversity after the 
pattern and method of the Man of 
Sorrows. Guided by Him we go 
through purgatory as Dante went 
through. Then God brings us out 
again into that refreshment and 
blessedness which only those can 
have who have been in the deep of 
the earth. There is but one high- 
way to the honor and comfort of 
64 



£be conqueat of trouble 

God—trouble. On the yonder side 
of trouble we can bear the comfort 
and refreshment and honor of God 
to our profit, when on the hither 
side it would only unman us. 
Piety lapses into sentimentalism, 
that dangerous foe of religion, if 
we dwell too much on God's con- 
solation apart from His discipline. 

"In the time of my trouble I 
sought the Lord : my sore ran, and 
ceased not in the night season ; my 
soul refused comfort.' ' 

Here again is vivid faith. The 
affliction is deep indeed. The sick- 
ness is an ulcerous sore. Mght 
and day it lays its sufferings upon 
a disconsolate soul. The wonted ap- 
peal from troubled lips is issued 
Godward. The seeming absence of 
65 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

God is examined. It is found to 
consist not in the failure of God's 
presence but in the infirmity of 
human life, a lack of spiritual per- 
ception. A review of the past re- 
veals His unfailing faithfulness. 
Then all is well. The sting of trou- 
ble is drawn. The bitterness of it 
is lost in the contemplation of 
God's loyalty to His people. His 
faithfulness is translated from an 
abstract theory into a living, per- 
sonal experience. 

" Therefore their days did he 
consume in vanity: and their years 
in trouble." 

This Psalm is the great national 

anthem of the Hebrews—" Lest we 

forget." This particular verse tells 

of disciplinary, punitive trouble 

66 



&be Conquest of trouble 

laid as a chastisement upon the 
shoulders of repeatedly rebellious 
children. But God's compassion 
more than matches man's need of 
it. Repeated back-slidings de- 
manding the punishment of the 
lash are met by repeated remission 
of penalties. How exquisite these 
words are!— 

"But he was so merciful, that 
he forgave their misdeeds: and 
destroyed them not. 

Yea, many a time turned he his 
wrath away : and would not suffer 
his whole displeasure to arise. 

For he considered that they were 
but flesh: and that they were even 
a wind that passeth away, and 
cometh not again' ' (vv. 38 ff). 

O God, teach us to benefit by thy 
chastisements. Keep in our re- 
67 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

membrance the certain issue of a 
sinful life, lest, forgetting Thy 
holiness, we may suffer Thy whole 
displeasure. 

"Thou calledst upon me in trou- 
bles, and I delivered thee: and 
heard thee what time as the storm 
fell upon thee." 

God's assurance to the troubled 
that He never fails. He is by us 
at every turn of the wheel, train- 
ing and shaping us. We must have 
as a background for the particular 
-consciousness of God's operation 
in our lives, a general conscious- 
ness of God's unshakeable faith- 
fulness. We must know Him as a 
character. It is this and not an 
experience or even a series of ex- 
periences which suffice in them- 
68 



Hbe Conquest of trouble 

selves. The imperlsliable, unf ath- 
omable fact of God-made-man is 
such a revelation of what God is in 
Himself that faith is born as we 
view it. We reach trust less 
through experimenting as to 
whether God will help in trouble 
than by a devout consideration of 
the Incarnation. 

It is God that does deliver. Let 
us not ascribe our deliverance to 
chance, or to the course of events, 
or to the agents and accidents 
through which God acts. Life is 
all personal. The personification 
of common events into acts of 
God's love is in itself a joy, a 
security, an invigoration, a trans- 
figuration. For the humble soul it 
recreates the world. If God is so 
careful and watchful and active in 
my affairs and my life, then there 
69 



£be conquest of trouble 

is no life in which He is not equally 
concerned. He has no favorites 
and no one is lost in the crowd. 
The noise and turmoil and devasta- 
tion of the storm cannot interfere 
between us and God. He hears 
and He heeds everyone, every- 
where. 

"In the time of trouble I will 
call upon thee: for thou hearest 
me." 

Here is one in deep trouble— yet 
not so deep that no ray of light 
penetrates. God's supremacy, the 
ultimate homage of the nations, His 
greatness, His mercy and compas- 
sion, all come under His recogni- 
tion and consideration. These at- 
tributes of God enable His trou- 
bled servant to be undismayed and 
f7Q 



Zbe Conqueat of trouble 

trustful. He is an attentive God 
who listens to the cry of His chil- 
dren. Having known Him out of 
trouble, he knows Him in trouble. 
It is simple and natural that he 
should make his appeal in his dis- 
tress. He asks first for strength 
(v. 16) and then for comfort (v. 
17). 

P0. IXXXViiU 2 

"For my soul is full of trouble: 
and my life draweth nigh unto 
hell." ' 

There is no darker or more sor- 
rowful poem in literature than this 
Psalm. One wonders what all the 
conditions were that called it forth 
and what the man's ultimate for- 
tunes were. But it is not mere 
complaint or an unordered cry of 
pain. It is not a self-conscious, 
71 



Zbc Conquest of trouble 

hysterical sob emitted to attract 
attention. It is a compete state- 
ment to God, as His concern, of the 
whole case from the lips of a de- 
vout servant whose prayers con- 
stantly besiege God's throne. 
There is naught in his soul but 
trouble. His life is hovering on 
the edge of the grave, devoid of 
strength, no better than dead. The 
depths have been plumbed so that 
there is no deeper abyss into which 
he can descend. Loneliness so un- 
relieved that God's indignation lies 
upon him and his acquaintances 
abhor him. He is blind with pain. 
He asks if God's mercy and power 
go deep enough to comprehend and 
succor such extremity. But he 
accepts it all and waits— that acme 
of discipline. That his waiting 
was justified and his trust and his 
72 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

endurance, the existence of the 
Psalm testifies. God delivered him 
out of all his troubles. 

Since our Lord fulfilled in His 
Person and experience all the 
trouble that this Psalm expresses 
and more, no one can doubt God's 
sympathy. When in our darkest 
sorrow or most riotous trouble we 
call to Him for succour, we call to 
One whose sorrows and troubles 
were immeasurably worse and who 
won for us fresh possibilities of 
faith and patience (Heb. ii, 9-18; 
iv, 14-16). 

P0. JCf, 15 

"He shall call upon me and I 
will hear him : yea, I am with him 
in trouble, I will deliver him, and 
bring him to honor." 

Here God declares Himself, in 
73 



&be Conqueat of trouble 

conference with His servant, to be 
faithful and true. He is certain 
protection both from and in trou- 
ble. The former is His lesser, the 
latter His greater self -manifesta- 
tion. Evasion of the untried is 
after all only postponement. The 
untried is the unconquered. When 
we have gone through trouble we 
have been thorough With God as 
partner we achieve freedom by- 
conquest, not by retreat. There is 
such a thing as a final defeat, when 
the enemy will have been so 
crushed as never to have the power 
to assail, or even to resist assault. 
In this sense our Lord has inflicted 
final defeat upon sin, trouble, and 
death. Having gone victoriously 
through each they are dead to Him 
and he to them. Faith means the 
union of our lives with His victor- 
74 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

ious experience. " Christ being 
raised from the dead dieth no 
more. Death hath no more domin- 
ion over Him. ' ' There is no blink- 
ing the fact of the reality of the 
dark mysteries, but they are con- 
fronted by the superior reality of 
the mystery of light and life and 
love. There is the reality of nega- 
tion and the reality of affirmation, 
the reality of darkness and the 
reality of light. Indeed negation 
is but a lower, and often merely a 
vicious, form of affirmation. 
There is nothing to gain and much 
to lose in courage and freedom in 
denying the reality of the hostile 
forces of life. An unclouded mo- 
tive, an unbroken will, and an un- 
wavering purpose are victorious 
even though hostile forces damage 
lor overwhelm all objective accom- 
75 



<Xbe Conquest of trouble 

plishment of the same. Moral and 
spiritual force becomes a menace 
of the first order when it is the ex- 
pression of a personal will. Moral 
character does not exist except 
thus. The negative moral, is the 
positive evil, character. It can be 
met only by the exercise of the 
faculties through which it gains its 
strength. 

As to what trouble is, the Psalter, 
bit by bit, reveals. It has a variety 
of manifestations. We must first 
of all in the consideration of our 
own personal trouble make sure 
that what we call trouble is not 
that phase of morbid selfishness, so 
common, which is known as self- 
pity. God is not sympathetic with, 
indeed He is unheedful of, arti- 
ficial or unreal trouble— the trou- 
ble of accidie or any trouble which 
76 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

remains in our lives after we have 
the clear illumination which shows 
us that we can rid our life of it by 
an act of choice or a sustained 
purpose. God puts Himself at our 
disposal to fix our choice and to 
give stability to our purpose. 

PS. Cif , 2 

"Hide not thy face from me in 
Ithe time of my trouble: incline 
thine ear unto me when I call; O 
hear me and that right soon." 

The trouble here is that of the 
devout soul that fails of the con- 
sciousness of God. It is that trou- 
ble of troubles, loneliness. He is 
small and of no account and yet he 
cannot live, nor can he see hope for 
anyone, until the Lord's glory ap- 
pear. The trouble of the hidden 
face is often the whole trouble. A 
77 



Zbc Conquest of trouble 

man does not ask for God simply 
for the comfort He brings but for 
His own sweet sake. " Taste and 
see how gracious the Lord is." The 
friend mourns because the Friend 
is silent or averts His face. Trou- 
ble, whatever its dimensions, would 
shrink into inconsequence or be- 
come quite subsidiary, if God 
would show His loving face. The 
child's terror in the night flees 
with instant feet at the quieting 
sound of the mother's voice or the 
touch of her soothing hand. If one 
knows one is with God and God is 
on our side anything can be borne. 
There is such a thing as being 
never less alone than when alone* 
(S. John xvi, 32). "My God, my 
God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 
was a cry of the trouble of desola- 

*"Nunquam minus solus, quam cum solus." — Saint 
Bernard, De Vita Sol, c. 4. 

78 



£be Conquest of trouble 

tion and loneliness. The need was 
not the need of even the richest 
gifts of personality but of Person- 
ality, of imparted presence. To 
some, to the best, impersonal gifts, 
things with no association, wealth 
of whatever sort, are valueless. All 
that is of worth is personality or 
that which is so impregnated with 
personality as to have semi-human 
character by virtue of association. 

Ps. Cft>, 23 

"When thou hidest thy face, 
they are troubled; when thou 
takest away their breath, they die, 
and are turned again to their 
dust. ,, 

Once more the hidden face and 
in consequence trouble. The whole 
creation groaneth and travaileth 
when the face is averted. When 



79 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

active providence fails all things 
collapse in the ruin of death. The 
Beatific Vision must mean the final 
defeat of all trouble. Men reach 
it through much tribulation. The 
courage of facing trouble brings us 
at last face to face with Him in 
whom are no shadows. 

It is good to think of health and 
beauty of whatever sort being the 
reflection of the glory in the face 
of God. God is again looking on 
His creation and pronouncing it 
very good. Nature, recognizing 
the favor in the face of the Lord, 
responds by breaking forth into 
bud and blossom color and song (v. 
30). 

1>6. cviU fi 

"So they cried unto the Lord in 
their trouble: and he delivered 
them from their distress." 
80 



Zbc Conquest of trouble 

In this Psalm every sort of 
trouble is depicted and the Lord is 
the universal deliverer. Self-in- 
duced trouble, trouble that comes 
from foolishness and wickedness, 
trouble that is incidental to the 
pursuit of one's vocation (v. 23), 
all come under the beneficent oper- 
ation of God's compassion (cf. also 
w. 39-43). There are two distinct 
kinds of self -induced trouble com- 
ing from exactly opposite direc- 
tions—one the trouble born of 
pride and self-will, the other the 
trouble born of humility and obe- 
dience. Neither kind is directly 
sought. The proud expect to es- 
cape the penalty of self-will; the 
humble anticipate the hardships 
which may accompany obedience. 
The former are in the end disagree- 
ably surprised: and the latter are 
81 



Zbc Conquest of trouble 

neither surprised nor dismayed. 
The troubles of mere sons of men 
come in spite of volitional antagon- 
ism and every endeavor to dodge 
them; the troubles of the Sons of 
God come as the result of volitional 
activity in the direction of God's 
purposes. Our Lord's troubles 
were the most conspicuous ever ex- 
perienced. They were representa- 
tive of the sort of trouble of all 
who actively share His sonship (cf, 
1 S. Peter ii, 19 ff.). There is a 
trouble due to our vocation. Each 
vocation has its own particular 
hardships and perils. "They that 
go down to the sea in ships : and oc- 
cupy their business in great 
waters," have their special difficul- 
ties. Sea-sickness appears to be in- 
cluded (w. 26, 27). At any rate 



82 



Zbe conquest of trouble 

"when they cry unto the Lord in 
their trouble: he delivereth them 
out of their distress." the oppres- 
sed and defeated are not forgotten 
or unwatched by God. Their trou- 
ble, too, is His concern and He 
places His best at their disposal. 
The issue of trouble is admission 
into the security and comfort of 
His own household (w. 39, 41). 

Ps. CXVU 4 

"I shall find trouble and heavi- 
ness, and I will call upon the Name 
of the Lord: O Lord, I beseech 
thee, deliver my soul." 

The fact that one has been in 
trouble and come through it does 
not mean that he will thereafter be 
immune from it. But God's pledge 
that He will take us through our 



83 



Sbe Conquest of trouble 

next trouble is found in our safe 
passage through our last trouble. 

God's Name is the spoken ex- 
pression, the vocal or written sym- 
bol, of His inner self. Belative to 
trouble His Name is Deliverer. 
The historic Psalmist had been 
given up for dead. He had tasted 
all the troubles of the valley of the 
shadow of death. God was his De- 
liverer (vv. 8, 9). 

pa. cvoiii, 5 

"I called upon the Lord in trou- 
ble: and the Lord heard me at 
large.' ' 

The answer to the petition is 
greater than the petition. The 
course of God's mercy is on a level, 
the highest level, never beneath. 
"His mercy endureth for ever." 

God is ever more ready to hear 
84 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

than we to pray: He gives more 
and better than we desire, cer- 
tainly than we deserve. He does 
not merely rescue us from the curl- 
ing waves of trouble through which 
He carries us to the shore. Far 
from leaving us only saved from 
death, He supports us into the 
sunny, fertile fields which lie above 
the rocky coast. Salvation only 
begins with rescue. It eventuates 
in perpetual comradeship with the 
Saviour. It is introduction into 
the revived and perfected society 
of the saved, the Communion of 
Saints. Yes, God hears in a large 
way the thin, shrill cry of the 
troubled. The "from" of salva- 
tion is the porch to the "into." He 
saves us from sin into righteous- 
ness, from barrenness to fruitful- 
ness. 

85 



£be Conquest of trouble 

Once more we see the prayer in 
trouble answered by God's revela- 
tion of Himself to the trouble, so 
that trouble is not removed but 
made habitable and useful. "The 
Lord is on my side : I will not fear 
what man doeth unto me. The 
Lord taketh my part with them 
that help me : therefore shall I see 
my desire upon mine enemies.' ' 
God becomes the companion-cham- 
pion of the troubled one, whose 
troubles are due to his high voca- 
tion and his lofty purpose. Forth- 
with he becomes courageous with 
the courage of the indomitable. He 
needs no human props and stays. 
The high prestige of officials is of 
no consequence to him. The hos- 
tility of mankind only stimulates 
him to new purpose. The surging 
assaults of the enemy do not bring 
86 



Gbe conquest of CrouMe 

him to bay. Bather do they chal- 
lenge him to triumphant counter 
assault. The Lord is with him as 
Help, Strength, Song, Salvation. 
God is in Himself all victory, 
therefore defeat for one who is 
God's is not only impossible but 
unthinkable. 

P0. CXlX, 50 

1 'The same is my comfort in my 
trouble: for thy word hath quick- 
ened me." 

God's Word is the comfort of 
the troubled, a lantern unto my feet 
and a light unto my paths. A word 
is primarily a voice, something ut- 
tered as a symbol of the mind of 
the speaker. A voice is a comfort 
in trouble. The voice of sympathy 
quickens and cheers. 

But God's Word is not only a 
87 



Zbc Conquest of trouble 

symbol of Himself. It is also the 
express image of His Person. His 
Word is Himself (S. John i, 1 ff.). 
He is His own pledge and symbol. 
God's "Word is not only a promise, 
it is also the realization of His 
promise. The Written Word of 
God becomes a living Word when 
we take it from Him as present. If 
God changed from day to day or 
century to century, a historical 
Word, a Word registered as final 
(Heb. i, 1 ff.), would be impossible. 
All we could hope for would be a 
message for the times. But just 
because God is unchangeable, the 
Written Word is our perpetual in- 
spiration and guide. It is for us 
as much as for the men of the 
earliest centuries. Its plain mean- 
ings, which far exceed its obscuri- 
ties, are God's living voice to living 
88 



©be Conquest of trouble 

men. As man changes and grows 
the meaning of Holy Scripture is 
enlarged. We can never outrun or 
outgrow the message of the Word. 

pa. csfs, 6? 

"Before I was troubled I went 
wrong: but now have I kept thy 
word." 

Trouble can harden. It can also 
fertilize. It depends on how we ad- 
just ourselves to it. 

It is not easy to understand why 
trouble is necessary for the mellow- 
ing and enlarging of human life. 
Joy and prosperity seem by no 
means essential to, and are often 
destructive of, character. The suf- 
ferers are the great. Or rather the 
great come to their heritage of 
greatness through tribulation. 
Happiness is a tinsel gift belong- 
89 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

ing to blue skies and zephyr 
breezes. Blessedness is the gift of 
God's own high condition which 
often comes on the wings of the 
storm in the darkness of night. 
Happiness is wilted by the first 
blast of adversity. Blessedness 
sets her sails to the storm and dis- 
covers new and wonderful lands 
under the impetus of the tempest's 
blast. Happiness is the perishable 
joy of the sons of men. Blessed- 
ness is the imperishable joy of the 
Sons of God. 

The kindest thing God can do to 
those who go wrong is to trouble 
them. Through His kindness He 
made fire to scorch and burn care- 
less fingers. Out of compassion 
and because He loves His children, 
He gives every sin its own whip of 
scorpions wherewith it must lash 
90 



Zbe Conqueet of trouble 

its victims after it has sated them. 
It has no choice. 

In this verse the effect of the 
lash is described or implied. It 
roused the sinner to penitence, 
penitence that embraced God's 
commandments. "Now have I 
kept thy word." 

P6. cm, n 

"It is good for me that I have 
been in trouble: that I may learn 
thy statutes." 

Trouble arrests the wrong doer 
in his course. That is its first func- 
tion. It is a warning and deter- 
rent. Then, to the penitent, it be- 
comes a positive asset. He does 
not discard it from his memory. 
He uses it as an instructive dis- 
cipline, a schoolmaster to teach the 
statutes of God. Often things 
91 



Cbe Conquest of CrouWe 

which are bitter and hard at the 
moment become a great source of 
thankfulness and gladness. Herein 
consists the alchemy of Christi- 
anity. It puts the bitter herbs of 
trouble into its crucible and they 
are charmed into a life-giving elix- 
ir. 

Life, as we know it, must have 
contrasts. Its shadows are the pro- 
duct of light playing upon its 
movements. Its antitheses are es- 
tablished by reason of its complete- 
ness. A comprehensive affirmative 
involves a daring contradiction. 
The contradiction becomes an im- 
pediment and a menace only when 
it ceases to be abstract and takes 
shape in personal character. The 
all-conquering might of life as in- 
terpreted in Christ is exhibited 
when personalized evil is made to 
92 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

declare the glory of God (Rom. 
iii). The great affirmation of 
God's Word is met by the contra- 
diction of evil, which in turn is 
finally responded to by being bound 
to the chariot of righteousness and 
captivity is led captive. 

P0*ctfx,r5 

"I know, O Lord, that thy judg- 
ments are right: and that thou of 
very faithfulness hast caused me 
to be troubled/ ' 

The Psalmist concurs in the or- 
dering of God and the eternal wis- 
dom of His judgments. Whatever 
happens can be accepted tranquilly 
if we know that He who controls 
the course of events is right and 
cannot err. Thus when trouble 
comes, however bewildering at 
first, we begin with the conviction 
93 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

that its origin and purpose, when it 
lays hold of us, are beneficent. It 
is fruitful of much rebellion and 
misery to confuse suffering with 
injury and malevolence. If our 
primary belief is in God as benevo- 
lent and beneficient Providence, 
then our earliest attitude toward 
even unexpected trouble will be 
patient and hopefully expectant. 
It is the curious and unwarranted 
assumption, that man as man has 
a right not only to unbroken hap- 
piness but also a happiness accord- 
ing to his own individual concep- 
tion of happiness, which sets peo- 
ple off on the wrong foot. 

We need not believe that God is 
the originator and direct agent of 
every trouble. That could be if 
there were no wills of the same sort 
as the Divine will, however limited 
94 



©be Conquc0t of trouble 

in scope, which temporarily can 
and do defy Him. Many troubles 
are due to the thoughtless or 
wicked movement of human wills 
or other evil agents. But the great 
thing is that the very moment 
trouble, even when thus originated, 
is born, God seizes upon it and con- 
trols it. Between the time it is 
launched in our direction and the 
time it enters into our lives as a 
fact of experience, God alters its 
character. It is, so to speak, 
wrested from the power of the will 
that originates and made to sub- 
serve the exactly opposite purpose 
to that intended. The wrath of 
man in this way turns to God's 
praise. 

Here, without searching out how 
his trouble originated, the Psalmist 
sees God operating it out of His 
95 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

very faithfulness. God never takes 
short views of life. He always 
deals with us in relation to our 
whole character and as immortal 
men. There are some old and sim- 
ple thoughts and phrases which are 
very profound. "God knows 
best/' "One cannot understand 
now but some day all will be clear. ' ' 
"I am sure good will come out of 
it." "Thou of very faithfulness 
hast caused me to be troubled.' ' 
An understanding of, and trust in, 
God's essential character, and a 
high and wise philosophy of life, 
lie behind such conclusions. 

Then, too, when such is a devel- 
oping conviction in our souls, hu- 
man life, in the midst of the multi- 
tude of troubles that encompass it, 
rises resplendent. It assumes a 
majesty that is divine. It is not 
96 



Zbc Conquest of trouble 

only undaunted but triumphant. It 
not only acquiesces, but embraces, 
the outwardly untoward (cf. 2 
Cor. iv, 8 ff.). There is no act 
more wonderful than that of 
kissing the cross. It is the most 
loving, the most virile, the most 
beautiful act of life (cf. 2 Cor. 
xii, 5; Gal. vi, 14). 

Ps. c# ;, 107 

"I am troubled above measure; 
quicken me, O Lord, according to 
thy word." 

A superb prayer! It is a mar- 
vel to me how men with the 
meagre advantages and spiritual 
privilege of these unnamed writers 
of the distant past could rise to 
such unparalleled heights, to such 
an understanding of God's mind, 
to such penetrating faith. It is all 
97 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

a testimony to the close relation- 
ship between God and the person. 
The world of the least blessed 
among us is more full of oppor- 
tunities of knowing God than the 
sky is of stars. The trouble with 
the Christian is a wealth of good 
things which he had become so 
familiar with as to use few of them, 
perhaps none, to their full value. 
In long lonely trips I have come to 
appreciate the value of the Dante I 
carried with me or the single book 
that I chose as companion, in a 
way quite impossible in the literary 
profusion of my library. 

The degree of this trouble is 
superlative — i ' above measure. ' ' 
This rendering of the original is 
one that could not be improved 
upon. The troubled one does not 
petition for an outward separation 
98 



Zbe conqueet of trouble 

for the inner quickening promised 
from the trouble, for its removal 
by annihilation or even exile, but 
by God to the hard pressed and 
suffering, which will enable him to 
annihilate or annul its force by the 
assault of superior might. The 
cross has been kissed, indeed. 
There is no courage equal to this, 
no victory greater. 

IPs. CZiXt 143 

"Trouble and heaviness have 
taken hold upon me ; yet is my de- 
light in thy commandments.' ' 

The servant of God is so in- 
wardly quickened that his re- 
sources are never exhausted. His 
outward sorrow can never contra- 
dict his inward joy except seem- 
ingly. Adversity may even in- 
crease the sharpness and intensity 
99 



TTbe Conquest of trouble 

of inner joy. His poverty is only 
that emptiness which gives God 
room to dwell. 

More than that, the trouble and 
heaviness that weigh down the soul 
are unable to quench the delight in 
God's commandments which is the 
dominant emotion of this brave 
man. Here is one of the mysteries. 
The developed spiritual life can 
have such a passion for God and 
the things of God, that no amount 
of counter-pressure can extinguish 
its flame. There is a joy which no 
man, which the world, cannot rob 
us of. There may be deliberate and 
active efforts to thwart and bring 
to naught our labors for God and 
to overwhelm us with embarrass- 
ment and defeat (v. 157), but it 
cannot so much as deflect us from 
our path. Our purpose, quickened 
100 



Zbe Conquest of trouble 

as it is by God, is too strong and 
too commanding to be affected by 
any force short of a Divine force 
— "I do not swerve from thy testi- 
monies.' ' Our stability is so sure 
and so strongly set that persecu- 
tion and attack do not cause it to 
sway any more than the rage of 
the tempest shakes the rock that it 
flings its might upon. 

"Many there are that trouble 
me, and persecute me"— There are 
the deliberate haters and perse- 
cutors, who in most lives are few. 
There are those who temperamen- 
tally trouble us— and we them. 
There are the teasers and tormen- 
tors who do not mean ill, and yet 
they trouble us. Let us be sure 
when complaining of other people 
that they have not equal or greater 
reason to complain of us. It is 
101 



Gbe Conquest of GrouWe 

not uncommon to find, among ad- 
ministrators and others, those 
who are always faulting their sub- 
ordinates and co-workers as being 
troublesome. They are blind to 
the fact that it is not others but 
themselves who are the chief, per- 
haps the sole, trouble-makers. It 
may be laid down as a general prin- 
ciple that a person who is perpet- 
ually having trouble with others is 
more an offender than he is of- 
fended. He must look for remedy 
in his own conversion rather than 
in the removal or conversion of 
others. 

P«. en* i 

"When I was in trouble, I called 
upon the Lord: and he heard me." 

The answer to prayer is here 
recognized, a simple and logical 
102 



Zbc conquest of trouble 

thing it would appear. Yet how 
often is it the case that we go on 
day after day importuning God, 
blind to the fact that He is answer- 
ing us by acts rather than by voices. 
The reason is that we fail to mark 
God's operation in ordinary af- 
fairs. Our godless system of edu- 
cation teaches us that the universe 
is controlled by the gods Evolution, 
Gravitation and the rest of the 
galaxy in the scientific pantheon. 
God does frequently answer prayer 
by the inexplicable and extraor- 
dinary. But more often does He 
perform the continuous miracle of 
trouble and we cry to Him He car- 
ries us safely, quietly through. We 
wonder how it was afterwards that 
we were able to endure. The rea- 
son was because He quickened us 
and sustained us from within. The 
103 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

outward God is harder to find than 
the inward God. The Kingdom of 
God is within you. Words and ex- 
planations are mists and veils to 
one who is without a centre, final 
and absolute, to his universe. 

It is a profitable exercise to de- 
tatch results from their secondary- 
causes and link them directly to 
God. Even little things like the 
daily routine blessings of life ought 
to be consciously attributed to God. 
Grace before meals is a good repre- 
sentative act. Thanksgiving after 
is still better. 

A recognition of answer to 
prayer leads to fresh activity of 
faith (v. 2) . It is astonishing how 
even a little progress in our walk 
by faith opens up the landscape. 
Victory always leads to victory, 
progress to progress (Phil, iii, 13, 
104 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

14), prayer answered to prayer to 
be answered. Beauty that we 
never dreamed of lies just around 
that turn of the road; obstacles, 
which at an earlier stage of our de- 
velopment would have routed us, 
appear only to be routed. 

Whatever may have been the 
trouble from which this writer had 
been delivered the new one that 
confronted him is in himself. Our 
worst impediments like our best 
opportunities are within (w. 2, 3). 
Outward associations and influ- 
ences may also be inimical but 
these can be borne if our heart is 
right within us. 

Ps. emit, l 

"Lord remember David: and all 
his trouble.' ' 

Of course much of David's trou- 
105 



&be Conquest of trouble 

ble was the result of his sin. But 
this reference is to the other kind 
of self -induced trouble, the trouble 
of high emprise, than which there 
is none greater. He made a vow 
to God to build him a house. It 
shines out of history as a consum- 
ing purpose. Because he was a 
man of war and trouble he was 
not permitted to see his desire con- 
summated. But he fired his son 
with his purpose (1 Chron. xxviii, 
2 ff.). 

Just think of the obstacles which 
had to be surmounted before 
David's ideal could be realized! 
Just think of the ease with which 
unfriendly forces swing us out of 
the path of our fixed purpose! 
David felt the pull of his vow 
through every barrier that blocked 
the way. It was not merely that he 
106 



Hbe Conquest of trouble 

had made up Ms mind and sworn 
to accomplish a given task. There 
are those who are carried to their 
goal by pride, who do at all costs 
what they set themselves to do, but 
whose interest in the intrinsic 
worth of the undertaking dimin- 
ishes to vanishing point. It was 
not thus with David. He desired 
no absolution from his task for his 
task was his joy. The Temple, 
which was never to bear his name, 
stood to this man whose life had 
been spent in tents, as the most 
glorious reality that earth con- 
tained. Its columns and porches 
and walls he saw so clearly that 
nothing else was more clear. Nor 
would he give to the Lord that 
which cost him nothing. He 
counted nothing a sacrifice that 
(contributed to his purpose. "All 
107 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

his trouble' ' bulked large indeed, 
but lie took almost a savage joy in 
hurling his stone of defiance and 
death at every enemy that inter- 
posed. His purpose was greater 
than himself. After all it made no 
real difference who gave God His 
House provided it was given and 
given worthily. To a man per- 
meated with a sense of self-impor- 
tance it is a humiliation to fail to 
achieve what he sets out to do. 
Much of his incentive to action con- 
sists in his desire to have his name 
plastered all over his achievements. 
He never wishes to relinquish that 
which is his or in which he has a 
share. He is, as it were, a miser 
who hoards all that his hands 
touch. But the man of God re- 
ceives a trust from God and his 
highest reward is found in being 
108 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

able to lay in the hands of God his 
completed stewardship. The great- 
est of David's many troubles was 
that because he was a man of war 
the building of the Temple had to 
be delayed. This even did not dis- 
courage him. "And David said, 
Solomon my son is young and 
tender, and the house that is to be 
builded for the Lord must be ex- 
ceeding magnifical, of fame and of 
glory throughout all countries: I 
will therefore now make prepara- 
tion for it. So David prepared 
abundantly before his death" (1 
Chron. xxii, 5). That which was 
the all-absorbing purpose in life 
was the all-absorbing purpose in 
death. That which made the Tem- 
ple famous and glorious far, far 
beyond David's expectations and 
dreams throughout countries un- 
109 



Zbc conquest of trouble 

named and centuries unborn was 
the height and purity, the stability 
and unselfishness, the passion and 
power of David's devotion to his 
trust. "Lord, remember David 
and all his trouble." Each sacri- 
fice that David made, each obstacle 
courageously surmounted by him, 
every argument calculated to bend 
him from his vow which he quietly 
reflected, was as sweet savour to 
God. When David did at last lie 
down to rest in the narrow taber- 
nacle of his grave, he rested well. 
O God, who hast not yet rejected 
the unworthy and flickering flame 
of my service, fix my purpose in 
thine own self from whom it came, 
that being fed by Thee who art the 
Source of all light, I may not fail 
to hold aloft the torch of Thy glory 
by humbly living in Thee and for 
110 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

Thee, through Jesus Christ, our 
Lord. 

Ps. envoi* 23 

"Who remembered us when we 
were in trouble : for his mercy en- 
dureth forever." 

Prayer must sooner or later melt 
into thanksgiving as petition is, 
crowned by answer. The high level 
of God's compassion, unbroken and 
sublime, includes that same sort of 
remembrance of us in our trouble 
which encompassed with its saving 
folds the dying robber who humbly 
asked to be remembered in his 
trouble (S. Luke xxiii, 42, 43). Oh 
the wealth of God's remembrance 
of us ! It is not a passing thought 
but a permanent solicitude. It is 
the remembrance of a parent's im- 
perishable, unfathomable love. 
Ill 



Gbe Conqueet of GrouWe 

Those who have felt it cannot help 
bursting into song. Our considera- 
tion has been chiefly of appeals for 
help in trouble. Here we have joy- 
ous praise in recognition of help 
given. A moment ago we were, so 
to speak, reminding God of His ser- 
vant David's trouble in His behalf. 
Now we are reminding ourselves of 
God's trouble in our behalf. Let us 
recount the great things God has 
done for us— how He has created 
us and given us "our brother the 
sun, who brings us the day and 
who brings us the light," who is 
fair, who "shines with very great 
splendor" and "signifies to us 
Thee;" who has endowed for us 
the night with "our sister the moon 
and the stars, the which He has set 
clear and lovely in heaven;" who 
has blessed our nation among and 
112 



Sbe Conquest of trouble 

above the nations; who has con- 
ducted us through our personal 
woes and sufferings; who has fed 
us with the fine wheat flour of His 
luxuriant bounty— "O give thanks 
unto the God of heaven: for his 
mercy endureth forever. O give 
thanks unto the Lord of lords : for 
his mercy endureth forever." 

" Though I walk in the midst of 
trouble, yet shalt thou refresh me : 
thou shalt stretch forth thy hand 
upon the furiousness of mine 
enemies, and thy right hand shall 
save me." 

Praise for past blessing leads 
straight into confidence for days to 
come. He who has learned to 
thank God for the recognized sup- 
port of yesterday will be possessed 
113 



Zhc Conquest of trouble 

of a heart that will stand fast and 
not be afraid of any evil tidings. 
That heavy veil between to-day and 
to-morrow ! Shall I fear for what 
may be there? Never. Though 
my whole environment and cir- 
cumstances spell trouble, though 
my whole universe is trouble, "yet 
shalt thou refresh me." It was so 
yesterday; it is so to-day; and to- 
morrow it will be the same. The 
fiery trial that is to try me is the 
furnace of God's refining, what- 
ever furious guise, whatever pro- 
gramme of frightfulness, it may 
adopt. God's faithfulness has 
been tried and not found wanting. 
"Upon it I build. If trouble thick- 
ens as years advance, why com- 
plain? Our strength is the cumu- 
lative strength of God's watchful 
providence ; our faith is the quick- 
114 



3be Conquest of trouble 

ened faith of God's promises real- 
ized in past experience. No, to- 
morrow must not arouse thoughts 
of dismay but of serene confidence 
— "The Lord shall make good his 
loving-kindness toward me: yea, 
thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for- 
ever." 

ps. cjlf if 11 

"Quicken me, O Lord, for thy 
Name's sake: and for thy right- 
eousness' sake bring my soul out of 
trouble." 

In these later Psalms we are in 
the high altitude of praise as pure 
as a pearl. This particular Psalm 
is the last plaint of the Psalter. 
There is no further reference to 
trouble after this verse. It is good 
to have it as a sentinel guarding the 
portal of praise, challenging us if 
115 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

we think our lips are well exercised 
to sing songs to God. They alone 
can laugh with the laughter of 
God's joy, who have first wept with 
God's tears. Again, not only those 
who have known trouble but those 
who have come through it with 
some degree of triumph, can take 
the higher notes of praise. Those 
who have come out of great tribula- 
tion, and have washed their robes 
and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb can alone cry with a 
loud voice, more musical than bells 
of silver and harps of gold, ^ Sal- 
vation unto our God who sitteth 
on the throne, and unto the Lamb" 

(Eev. vii, 10 ff.) . 

The last prayer in relation to 

trouble is the best. It is a prayer 

for inner quickening that gives 

man superiority to whatever he 

116 



Gbe Conquest of trouble 

comes upon, whether joy and pros- 
perity or trouble and adversity. 
God, whose Name is Deliverer, is 
adjured. For the vindication of 
His righteousness salvation is 
sought after. The prayer is not 
that of a spiritual novice. It is the 
prayer of maturity and rich ex- 
perience. None know how to pray 
for spiritual gifts like the spiritu- 
ally gifted. Those who have won 
wealth by prayer are the ones who 
are most conscious of their own 
poverty and of wealth unachieved. 
The truest friend of God is most 
deeply convinced that he is but a 
servant consumed with a passion- 
ate ambition to be a friend. The 
height of his ambition is to will as 
God willeth, to desire as God de- 
sireth, to love as God loveth— 
"Teach me to do the thing that 
117 



Gbe conquest of trouble 

pleaseth thee ; for thou art my God : 
let thy loving Spirit lead me forth 
into the land of righteousness" (v. 
10). 

Thus it is that we come to the 
close of our consideration of the 
" trouble" Psalms, with trouble 
upon our horizon and praise upon 
our lips.— Now we are in a position 
to enter into the calm atmosphere 
of the Peace of God. 



118 



Sbe peace of <5oo 



She peace of <Sot> 

The two things which the follow- 
ing musings set forth are, the value 
of using references, and the way 
Scripture interprets Scripture. 

S. Xufte U 7B t ZB 

"The dayspring from on high 
shall visit us, to shine upon them 
that sit in darkness and the shadow 
of death ; to guide our feet into the 
way of peace." 

The greatest need of the unen- 
lightened is enlightenment: the 
greatest need of the enlightened 
and the crowning gift of God is 
peace. Note the extraordinary 
delicacy of thought and expression 

— avaToXr} i£ 'vt/zous k.t.X. 

Joy is ordinarily over- valued; 
peace under-valued. There is no 
121 



Ebe peace of <5o5 

condition higher in God's scale 
than His peace. Happiness is a 
word never once used by Our Lord. 
It is too thin and flimsy a thing for 
His children. The words He uses 
and puts on the lips of His teach- 
ers are " blessed' ' (/*a*a/Hos) and 
" peace' ' (elpyjvrj). 

Peace, in God's mind, is not an 
absence of agitation or activity. 
It is the activity of complete har- 
mony where the agent is in the full 
light and walks in relation to the 
whole as it is thus revealed by God. 
Peace is a way wherein the chil- 
dren of God walk together. 

Peace is the result of God's light, 
the adoption of His way of looking 
at things. Man's contrivances and 
imaginings cannot issue in peace. 
This is as true of the relations be- 
tween nation and nation as between 
122 



atbe fl>eace of 0o5 

man and man. They begin in an 
acceptance of God's purposes as 
He makes them known to us. The 
whole of God's struggle with Israel 
was to get them to accept and re- 
main loyal to His simple laws. 
Neither Israel nor any nation be- 
fore or since has accepted Him 
unreservedly and fully. Therefore 
there can be no peace of God 
among the nations, (cf. The pro- 
phecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah 
wherein are set forth the first 
principles of national life accord- 
ing to the mind of God, and the 
sure disaster consequent upon dis- 
regard of them.) Isaiah is con- 
spicuously a prophet of peace, 
living, though he did, amidst wars 
and rumors of war. 

In a sense peace is the gift of 
God to the individual— the result 
123 



Gbe- peace of 0o& 

of reconciliation between the life 
of man and God. But there can be 
no large peace to the man whose 
horizons are less vast than the hor- 
izons of God. The moment a man 
actively enters into the life and 
peace of God, his relationships are 
with all creation. The light re- 
veals our full world. We are 
too big to attempt to live in any- 
thing less than the whole world. 
Peace is the product of life in the 
light. Our peace is developed ac- 
cording as, one after another, 
we draw into our fellowship every- 
one and everything. When the sun 
is our brother and the death of the 
body our sister, then can we praise 
God with all His creatures in a 
hymn of harmony, that is, of God's 
peace. 
Peace is the heritage of all and 
124 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

not of a few. It must be universal 
because it consists of universal re- 
lationships. The promise is: 
" Peace, peace, to him that is far 
off and to him that is near, saith 
the Lord ; and I will heal him" (Is. 
lvii, 19. cf.Eph.ii, 17). 

Because sin " separates between 
you and your God" there can be no 
peace for the sinner (Is. lix, 2). 
Sin is self-will and separates from 
fellowship. Sin is war. It leaves 
us alone, unprotected, with the cer- 
tainty of ultimate defeat, for "vice 
shall not prevail against wisdom" 
(Wis. vii, 30). 

Self-will involves darkness, the 
withdrawal of the countenance of 
God (Is. lix, 9) . It is the contra- 
diction and destruction of commu- 
nity life. It is the self -appraise- 
ment of nations that issues in war, 
125 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

Wherever there is the exaltation of 
self-interest above the common 
weal, there is not only; no peace but 
the shock of battle. 

The fine generic term "sin" 
covers the whole case. A. sinner 
can never be a son of peace. "The 
way of peace they know not .... 
they have made them crooked 
paths: whosoever goeth therein 
doth not know peace' ' (Is. lix, 8. 
cf. lvii, 20). 

Isaiah knows how to express 
terrible truth terribly: "The 
wicked are like the troubled sea; 
for it cannot rest, and its waters 
cast up mire and dirt. There is no 
peace, saith my God, to the wicked" 
(Is. lvii, 20). 
5. Xufte ii f 14 

"Glory to God in the highest, 
And on earth peace among men in 
whom he is well pleased." 
126 



©be peace of 0o5 

This reading, though not as ryth- 
mic as, or bound up with Christ- 
mas associations like, that of the 
A. V., has greater depth of mean- 
ing, containing all the other does 
and much besides. 

Here again the high place that 
peace holds is declared. It is the 
supreme gift to men of the Incar- 
nation. It is the garden in which 
God's flowers of righteousness 
bloom. Our Lord is that which He 
gives. All His gifts are personal 
in essence and in direction. God 
is love. God is peace. "His name 
shall be called . . . Prince of 
Peace. Of the increase of his 
government and of peace there 
shall be no end" (Is. ix, 6). Sepa- 
rate gifts from the giver, denude 
them of their personal character, 
and they can only touch our sur- 
127 



ttbe peace of <5ot> 

face. A person who lives wholly in 
a world of things must himself de- 
teriorate into a thing. 

There is no more searching word 
about peace than: "He is our 
peace, who hath made both one" 
(Eph. ii, 14). All mechanical 
means of achieving peace between 
man and man are as inadequate as 
a prayer wheel is to establish peace 
between God and man. Peace be- 
tween nation and nation can be 
solidified neither by the common 
interests of trade, the vaporings of 
conventional diplomacy, nor the 
bullying of armaments (cf. Wis. 
ix, 14). 

Heaven's peace on earth is God's 
purpose, announced when the first 
breath of the Incarnation awoke 
the skies with splendor and song. 
There has never been so wonderful 
128 



Gbe peace of <So& 

a Utopia conceived by the human 
mind as that proclaimed by God in 
Christ. Men think the human 
Utopias possible and grope after 
them. Christ's Utopia is the only 
possible one. Those who believe 
and act on this are "men in whom 
He is well pleased." The most 
Utopian prayer that is offered is 
the prayer most commonly on hu- 
man lips— the Lord's Prayer (cf. 
S. Luke xii, 32) . The larger hope is 
kept alive by it. No one able to 
offer the Lord's Prayer can expect 
too much of or for himself or man- 
kind. Cf. the rich expectation of 
men whose lives were set in condi- 
tions unfavorable to hope (e. g. 
Tobit. xiii, 14-18). God was well 
pleased in our Lord because He 
willed all that God willed, He ex- 
pected all that God expected, He 
129 



Gbe peace of <Bo& 

worked for all that God worked. 
"Thou art my beloved Son; in 
Thee I am well pleased" (S. Luke 
iii, 22 cf. Is. xlii, 1-4). Our Lord's 
life had inner peace, the peace 
which abides even when everything 
within and without conspire to- 
gether against it. "In God's will 
is our peace." 

"The Lord will bless Ms people 
with peace" (Ps. xxix, 10). Those 
who take God's righteousness as 
their own purpose are His people. 
"Eighteousness and peace have 
kissed each other" (Ps. lxxxv, 10). 
Eighteousness and peace move in a 
beneficent circle. EacH contributes 
to the other. "Great peace have 
they which love thy law: and they 
have none occasion of stumbling" 
(Ps. cxix, 165) . 

130 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

Peace will always be a theme to 
catch people's attention. So de- 
sirable a possession is it that the 
powers of evil use it as a lure. The 
false prophets promise peace to the 
wicked saying: "I will give you 
assured peace in this place" (Jer. 
xiv, 13). Part of the glory of the 
second Temple was that it was to 
be the abode of peace : " The latter 
glory shall be greater than the for- 
mer, saith the Lord of Hosts : and 
in this place will I give peace, 
saith the Lord of hosts" (Hag. ii, 
9). It was the offer of peace that 
made the early preaching of Chris- 
tianity attractive: "The word 
which he sent unto the children of 
Israel, preaching good tidings of 
peace by Jesus Christ" (Acts x, 
36). 

131 



Gbe peace of <5ot> 

Peace, mystic peace, is not thrust 
upon us. It is simply made avail- 
able. We must appropriate it. 
Like the Kingdom of Heaven it 
must be taken by force. It calls 
for effort and the use of that 
which is eternal within us. ' i Being 
therefore justified by faith, let us 
have (or, we have) peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ' } 
(Rom. v, 1). Self -donation even 
unto death was the instrument 
through which our Lord made 
peace available. " Through him to 
reconcile all things unto himself, 
having made peace through the 
blood of the cross" (Col. i, 20). 
Self-donation even unto death is 
the instrument by which we appro- 
priate the peace thus made avail- 
able. 

132 



3be peace of (Sob 

5. Xufte it, 29 

"Now lettest thou thy servant 
depart, O Lord, according to the 
word, in peace.' ' 

Simeon refuses to die until his 
eyes have seen God's salvation. 
Seeing the Person who is the Sa- 
viour, he has seen that which flows 
from Him. Abraham saw from 
afar and went to his fathers in 
peace (cf. S. John viii, 56; Gen. xv, 
15) . He who sees, has. The world 
lives by its visions. To see is to 
possess, to achieve. There is no 
true ideal to-day, however imprac- 
tical for the times, which is not 
necessary. Our means for reach- 
ing the ideal may be crude and in- 
adequate. That does not detract 
from the value and reality of the 
end sought for. Lying behind the 
dream of every visionary is the 
133 



©be peace of <5o& 

operation of faith which in the end 
must conquer. The prophet or 
seer possesses by anticipation. He 
draws the future into the present 
and lives in it. It becomes his only 
present and all things are viewed 
and construed in its light. Our de- 
gree of peace depends upon the 
clearness of our vision. 

"Amen, now lettest Thou Thy servant, Lord, 
Depart in peace, according to Thy Word. 
Although mine eyes may not have fully seen 
Thy great salvation, surely there have been 
Enough of sorrow and enough of sight 
To show the way from darkness into light ; 
And Thou hast brought me, through a wilderness of pain 
To love the sorest paths, if soonest they attain. 

11 Enough of sorrow for the heart to cry, 
* Not for myself, nor for my kind, am I ; ' 
Enough of sight for Reason to disclose, 
' The more I learn the less my knowledge grows.' 
Ah, not as citizens of this our sphere, 
But aliens militant we sojourn here, 
Invested by the hosts of Evil and of Wrong 
Till Thou shalt come again with all Thine Angel throng. 

134 



Gbe peace of ©oo 

"As Thou hast found me ready to Thy call, 
Which ordered me to watch the outer wall, 
And, quitting joys and hopes that once were mine, 
To pace with patient step this narrow line, 
Oh, may it be that, coming soon or late, 
Thou still shalt find Thy soldier at the gate, 
Who then may follow Thee till sight needs not to prove, 
And faith shall be dissolved in knowledge of Thy love." 
George John Romanes 

Every Christian life must renew 
the Nunc Dimittis as an experi- 
ence. In the Saviour we see full 
salvation. It is no selfish affair. It 
includes all nations. It claims for 
the unborn such blessings as we 
enjoy only in part, except so far as 
seeing, we possess. The great lack 
of our day in education is that the 
senses are trained all out of pro- 
portion to insight or faith. The 
result is frantic materialism. Sup- 
posing from early childhood the 
young were exercised in faith with 
the same diligence they are exer- 
135 



Gbe peace of <5ot> 

cised in reason, what a difference 
there would be in the world out- 
look! We need for our children 
schools of faith in which those who 
have learned to see, will give their 
best effort to develop the sixth 
sense. 

©♦ %\xkc x, 5, B, 

"Into whatsoever house ye shall 
enter first say, Peace be to this 
house. And if a son of peace be 
there, your peace shall rest upon 
him ; but if not, it shall turn to you 
again." 

This is an injunction to evangel- 
ists or preachers of the Word. The 
errand of the evangelist is peace- 
peace as God knows it, peace within 
outwards. The peaceable purpose 
carries with it a peaceful tempera- 

136 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

ture; inner hostility breeds a like 
spirit in those we meet. If a man 
bent on peaceable ends meets one 
who is a son of peace, i. e., the 
general tenor of whose life is the 
same, unity results. The spirit of 
conciliation is the most powerful of 
weapons against the turbulent and 
the rash and the self-willed. 
"Thus shall ye say to him that 
liveth in prosperity, Peace be both 
unto thee, and peace be to thine 
house, and peace be to all that thou 
hast" (1 Sam. xxv, 6ff.). This was 
a friendly greeting to a churl— a 
pledge to Nabal of David's 
friendly feeling and intentions. 
Nabal need have no uneasiness as 
to David's purpose. Similarly 
David accepts [Abigail's friendly 
overtures: "Go up in peace to 
thine house ; see I have hearkened 
137 



3be peace of <Bo& 

to thy voice and accepted thy per- 
son" (1 Sam. xxv, 35). 

"When we are expecting to meet 
those whose spirit we know to be 
friendly and peaceable, there is no 
need of nerving ourselves, so to 
speak, to preserve a peaceable tem- 
per. It is when we know we are 
going to meet the obstreperous and 
the militant, or, perhaps, are en- 
tering into a wholly unknown 
country, that we should be sure to 
have our "feet shod with the prep- 
aration of the gospel of peace" 
(Eph. vi, 15). We must be "sons 
of peace." That is, men who in 
close kinship with peace are obe- 
dient to its behests and disciplines. 
Peace is as it were a parent capable 
of directing and protecting her 
children (cf. Is. liv, 13; Matt, vi, 
9). This truth works in a circle— 
138 



3be peace of (Sot) 

God's children are full of peace; 
those who are full of peace are 
God's children. 

The Evangelist's benediction, 
" Peace be to this house," is not a 
formula. It is the willing and 
placing of peace in the house by 
the direct purpose of the visitor. It 
is the bestowal of the guest's best 
upon his host and family. 

1. Apply this to the minor so- 
cial relationships of life. 

2. Also in, e. g., diplomacy, busi- 
ness matters, etc. 

Supposing our peace-giving in- 
tention is frustrated while there is 
loss in our immediate negotiations 
and fellowship, to us there is net 
gain. "My prayer returned into 
my own bosom" (Ps. xxxv, 13). 
Even when prayer for others fails 
of its direct purpose, it blesses its 
139 



3be peace of <So& 

author, coming back to him with 
renewed power to be used when op- 
portunity next presents itself. The 
exercise of the spirit of peace in 
adverse conditions develops it as 
favorable conditions are powerless 
to do. In the light of this thought 
consider S. Matt, v, 9 f£., and kin- 
dred passages. 

5. Zufee iU 21 

"When the strong man fully 
armed guardeth his own court, his 
goods are in peace. " 

This is one of several militant- 
peace passages uttered by our 
Lord. "In the time of peace pre- 
pare for war/' is one way in which 
we apply the thought. The posses- 
sion and development of great 
powers of resistance, capable of 
beneficent use in peace, unaggres- 
140 



&be peace of <So& 

sive in intent, but a mighty engine 
of defence in case of assault, is a 
spiritual, moral and physical ne- 
cessity. None but extreme non- 
resistance people can think other- 
wise. Peace, in one sense, consists 
in immunity from attack because 
of the possession of superior 
power. 

The peril of this position is that 
great armaments are developed 
with a subtle purpose of aggression 
lying behind. Or, it may be, the 
strong, conscious of great strength, 
will lapse into the bully. This is 
bound to be unless there are forces 
powerful enough to hold arma- 
ments in leash. The disciplined 
use of strength is the acme of self- 
government. No nation in the 
world and few institutions or in- 
dividuals have yet learned the art. 
141 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

Only the strong man fully armed 
— Ka0<t>ir\i<riA€vos,* a neat and tell- 
ing word— can be a true neutral 
where others are embroiled. Neu- 
trality does not stand for neither- 
ness, for voiceless watching on the 
sidelines, for mere self-interest. 
Were it otherwise then the neutral 
nation could not allow its citizens 
to sell arms to belligerents on 
either side. Neutrality stands for 
fair play and the observance of 
principles binding on all and to be 
transgressed by none without mer- 
iting and receiving the protest of 
all. Only a strong man can make 
a strong protest. 

The post factum judgments of 
history are just, though inexorable. 
Their verdict refuses to take into 
account that the men, the value of 

* "Furnished with arms." 

142 



Gbe peace of $o& 

whose conduct is being assessed, 
acted only with the partial knowl- 
edge of the present, whereas the 
historian judges with the fuller 
light of subsequent happenings. 
That which, after common sense, is 
the most requisite spiritual quali- 
fication for leadership is ability to 
foresee and to mould action accord- 
ingly. The historian therefore 
judges the leader as though the 
whole scroll was complete at the 
moment it was being written.* 
Keeping this exacting canon in 
view, the weakness of America's 
neutrality in the Great War has 

* "The weight of opinion is against me when, I exhor 
you never to debase the moral currency or to lower the 
standard of rectitude, but to try others by the final maxim 
that governs your own lives, and to suffer no man and no 
cause to escape the undying penalty which history has 
the power to inflict on wrong. The plea in extenuation 
of guilt and mitigation of punishment is perpetual. At 
every step we are met by arguments which go to excuse, 

143 



Zl)c peace of <5o& 

been that her protests have been 
made only when self-interest re- 
quired them. The " scrap of pa- 
per" crime ought to have elicited 
from our Government prompt and 
unequivocal condemnation, not in 
terms of war but in terms of a 
neutral nation bound to protect 
principles to which all nations alike 
are pledged. Again a prompt and 
unequivocal note despatched the 
moment that certain international 
rights on the high seas were pal- 
pably and officially menaced, 

might have made a note deprecat- 

to palliate, to confound right and wrong, and reduce the 
just man to the level of the reprobate. The men who plot 
to baffle and resist us are, first of all, those who made 
history what it has become. They set up the principle 
that only a foolish Conservative judges the present time 
with the ideas of the Past ; that only a foolish Liberal 
judges the Past with the ideas of the Present." 

The Study of History by Lord Acton, 
pp. 63, 64. 

144 



©be peace of <5o& 

ing actual transgression, which in- 
volved our self-dnterest, unneces- 
sary and one crime less on the cal- 
endar of war. The notes when they 
came were what they ought to have 
been. They would have been im- 
mortal had they come as the pro- 
test of a neutral nation outraged 
by openly threatened lawlessness 
rather than as a cry of pain from 
a neutral nation that had been hurt. 
The heavy responsibility of the neu- 
tral nation, in addition to watching 
for and using opportunity to act 
as peace maker, is to guard inter- 
national interests from transgres- 
sion on the right hand and on the 
left, without favor and without 
fear. It is conceivable that a neu- 
tral nation might incur the disfavor 
of both belligerents by the coura- 
geous exercise of her duties as a 
145 



JLbc peace of 0o& 

neutral nation. Indeed she might 
conscientiously be compelled to do 
that which would call forth a de- 
claration of war from each. There 
is no call for her to assail by force : 
there is a clear call for her to do 
her duty undeterred by fear of be- 
ing assailed. She is free of fear of 
being assailed if she is as the 
strong man " fully armed.' ' Israel 
was not forbidden the use of arms 
Or the employment of force. 
Isaiah's contention was for her ab- 
stention from alliances with other 
nations like Egypt and Assyria. 
Israel's ally was God. She was to 
live by faith, with Him as her rock 
and castle, her shield and buckler. 
Obedience to His laws and accep- 
tance of His teaching would give 
her an armor which could be 
forged by no earthly ally. 
146 



Zhe peace of <Bo& 

5. Xufte sii, 51 

"Think ye that I am come to give 
peace in the earth" (Cf. S. Matt, x, 
34). 

This upholds the principles just 
enunciated. There are occasions 
when our character as sons of peace 
develops the hostility of others. 
Our principles, being universal, in- 
volve us in universal relationships. 
Those who are sons of war and not 
of peace become ipso facto our as- 
sailants. We, however, in loyalty 
to our character as sons of peace 
may never lose our peaceable in- 
tention. The hostility that thus 
arises is that of the Church mili- 
tant. 

It is just here that I am uncom- 
fortable and unhappy about our 
nation. We have been clever and 
restrained enough to keep our- 
147 



TLbc peace of (5o& 

selves from being embroiled. "We 
have not taken a strong enough 
stand, a stand that might earn us 
a hatred to be proud of. The ques- 
tion is how and to what end have 
we kept ourselves unentangled. 
By something like self-isolation 
that has not anything splendid 
about it? We are too detatched. Is 
it going to equip us to play a noble 
part when the moment for recon- 
ciliation and peacemaking comes? 
Laodicea was neutral— neither the 
one thing nor the other. "Quia 
neque frigidus es, neque calidus: 
utinam frigidus esses, aut calidus; 
sed quia tepidus es, et nee frigidus, 
nee calidus, incipiam te evomere ex 
ore meo" (Eev. iii, 15, 16). A per- 
son ignorant of the Latin can catch 
something of the scorn contained 
in its trenchant rythm. So far as 
148 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

self-interest was concerned there 
was no neutrality. Laodicea was 
on the side of her own wealth and 
prosperity. " Dives sum et locu- 
pletatus, et nullius egeo" (Rev. iii, 
17). But if it came to moral influ- 
ence and real power, listen! " Tu 
es miser et miserabilis, et pauper 
et caecus, et nudus" (Rev. iii, 17). 
The quotation repudiating neutral- 
ity is given in Latin because neu- 
trality is Latin— and obsolete. 
Perhaps we need a new word to ex- 
press the positive side of the nega- 
tive virtue called, in world politics, 
neutrality. 

A strong position evoEes of ne- 
cessity a strong hostility on the 
part of evil. Evil is clever and 
mighty and persevering— only less 
so than the Lord God of hosts. It 
is silly to pretend otherwise (Cf. 
149 



$be peace of (36b 

S. Matt, xvi, 23). Our Lord's re- 
buke to the kindly intentioned 
Peter is terrific. It is like a flash 
of lightning blighting forever he- 
donism and the theory that priv- 
ilege means exemption from re- 
sponsibility and from a high degree 
of suffering. 

Progress always means antagon- 
isms. Frequently it is the young 
who are set against the old. Some- 
times the radicals against the con- 
servatives. It may be that one has 
to chose between peace with God 
and peace with men. The two do 
not always run hand in hand. 

The creation of antagonisms, 
then, is part of Christian necessity, 
foreseen and provided for by 
Christ. We cannot be friends or at 
peace with everyone even among 
professing Christians. There is no 
150 



£be peace of (Bc& 

room for war among those who are 
Christian indeed. The Christ war- 
rior goes forth to establish clear- 
cut decisions and to challenge the 
enemy. The effort to be at peace 
with everyone merely for the sake 
of peace ends in our trimming 
principles and gaining popularity 
at the expense of self-respect and 
character. Those words of the 
Great Seer are fascinating in their 
awfulness,— "And another horse 
came forth, a red horse : and to him 
who sat thereon it was given to 
take peace from the earth, and that 
they should slay one another: and 
there was given unto him a great 
sword' ' (Rev. vi, 4). 

O God, help me not to be afraid 

of the red horse. Make me ready, 

when need be, to select him as my 

steed and to draw the sword 

151 



©be peace ot ©o& 

against all thine enemies. Some- 
times war, outward and inward, is 
a condition of the preservation for 
ourselves and others of the peace 
of God that passeth all under- 
standing. 

©♦ Xufte jfv, 32 

"Or else, while the other is yet 
a great way off, he sendeth an am- 
bassage, and asketh conditions of 
peace." 

These words are used in conjunc- 
tion with one of the most fiery pas- 
sages in the Gospel (S. Luke xiv. 
25 f£.). It has to do with antagon- 
isms and reconciliations. The alter- 
native to fighting is the diplomatic 
art. It is not to aim at peace at all 
costs but, having weighed all the 
conditions specified, to decide 
whether or not they are honorable 
152 



ttfoe peace of <3o& 

and, so, possible. Otherwise it is 
war. 

5. Xufte tiit 3B 

" Blessed is the King that cometh 
in the name of the Lord: peace in 
heaven and glory in the highest." 
'Eiptjvr) ev ovpavcp. The home of 
peace was not on earth. Men looked 
away from this troubled sphere. 
They looked up for it. Glory was 
only in the highest— lv vtylo-rois. 
It was all very far from and for- 
eign to earth. The only thing men 
could do was to contemplate it and 
yearn for it. How different the 
angel's song— em 777s elpyjvrj. It 
was for this that Christ came— 
to put peace and glory near man ; 
to translate trouble into terms of 
peace and service into terms of 
glory. We look beyond, around, 
153 



Gbe peace of (5oJ> 

above peace. Whereas it is here, 
right here, iiri yrj$—av0p(o>rroi<;. 

5. Xufce tilt 42 

"If thou hadst known in this 
day, even thou, the things which 
belong unto peace ! but now they are 
hid from thine eyes." 

Is there any relation in the 
Evangelist's mind between this 
verse and v. 38 ? The people w r ere 
hymning peace in heaven. The 
Saviour says they are neglecting 
an available peace on earth. 

1. Peace is a product of some- 
thing else. 

2. It has apparently in this con- 
nection to do with external condi- 
tions. One recalls Israel, in the 
face of Isaiah's warnings, coquet- 
ting with Assyria, Babylon and 
Egypt. If the Jews had lived by 

154 



JLDc peace of 0ot> 

faith and refused alliances with 
blaspheming and unholy force, 
what would have been their char- 
acter and influence. 

3. God's plans for peace may 
reach a stage, when in His loving 
kindness, they are no longer open 
to us. Then comes a blindness that 
obscures them. After that an ac- 
cumulation of horrors descends 
upon us as their substitute. 

4. Peace is the product of our 
active recognition of God's plans 
for us. "Thy will be done on earth 
as it is in heaven. ' ' God grant that 
the nations may at this time see 
the things which belong to their 
peace ! 

s. Xufte xtft\ as 

"Peace be unto you." See also 
S. John xx, 19, 21, 26. 
155 



Zbc peace of (Sod 

Now we are in the rare altitude 
of the Resurrection. Peace is 
made new. It has passed through 
trouble as the grist through the 
mill. It emerges all prepared for 
mankind. Hereafter it is a trium- 
phant peace before it even faces 
trouble, for our Lord representa- 
tively has emancipated it from 
molestation or harm (S. John xvi, 
33). 

This is no bare salutation but 
the bringing of heaven's peace to 
earth. It is the fulfillment of the 
promise: " Peace I leave with 
you: my peace I give unto you: 
not as the world giveth, give I unto 
you" (S. John xvi, 27)". This is a 
type of peace hitherto unknown. 
It is only in the gift of Christ. No 
one else could give it. "My peace" 
—a peace undisturbed and un- 
156 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

marred by external confusion and 
enmity. Its antithesis is trouble 
and fear. "Let not your heart be 
troubled, neither let it be fearful' ' 
(Cf. Ps. xlvi. Also Ps. lvi, 3). 
"Though I am sometime afraid: 
yet put I my trust in thee"— the 
resultant is God's peace. The 
peace of faith or internal, as dis- 
tinguished from the peace of con- 
ditions, or external, peace. 
Consider S. John xx, 19, 21, 26: 

1. With reference to physical 
fear ; 

2. With reference to the fear of 
sin; 

3. With reference to doubt. 

Col. ut, is 

"Let the peace of Christ rule in 
your hearts, to the which also ye 

157 



Zbe peace of <5o& 

were called in one body ; and be ye 
thankful." 

It is our high duty to recognize 
the reign of peace and make our 
hearts always subject to its laws. 
This great gift is the first one to 
seek for and gain. Nothing else 
can be held and fully used unless 
we> have the pax Christiana. 
There is no lack of it (Ps. lxxii, 7 : 
Zech. ix, 10). 

jSpb* if, 14 ff 

"He is our peace, who made 
both one, and brake down the 
middle wall of partition, having 
abolished in his flesh the enmity, 
even the law of commandments 
contained in ordinances; that he 
might create in himself of the 
two one new man, so making 
peace; and might reconcile them 
158 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

both in one body unto God 
through the cross, having slain 
the enmity thereby: and he came 
and preached peace to you that 
were far off and peace to them that 
were nigh: for through him we 
both have our access in one Spirit 
unto the Father" (Cf. Col. i, 19, 
20). 

It was long before seen that in 
the Messiah was peace— " This 
man shall be our peace" (Micah 
v. 5). It is not merely that plot- 
tings and plannings, strivings and 
yearnings, after peace, are incap- 
able of winning even a truce, much 
less an enduring peace, but that 
the peace which He is stands apart 
from and above all other condi- 
tions called by that name. It in- 
cludes the tranquility • of lesser 
grades and forms of peace but its 
159 



Gbe peace of <Eo& 

finality and completeness give it a 
character which only they who 
taste of it can know. 

©ai. x> f 22 

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, 
joy, peace, etc." 

This constant living with Christ, 
our life in the Vine (S. John xv, 1 
ff.) is fruitful of active virtues. 
Peace comes as part of the se- 
quence. Peace as here referred to 
is whole peace, Godward and man- 
ward. You cannot have the former 
without promoting the latter (Cf. 
1 John iv, 20, 21). A man who 
thinks he is at peace with God and 
is always in a state of contention 
with men has a long road to travel 
before he can reach the Kingdom 
of God (Cf. Eom. xiv, 17). 

160 



Gbe peace of <So& 

1beb. jft, 14 

"Follow after peace with all 
men." S'fce also 1 Cor, vii, 15; 
Eom. xii, 18, xiv, 19 ; 1 Cor. xiv, 33 ; 
2 Tim. ii, 22; S. Mk. ix, 50; 2 Cor. 
xiii, 11; 1 Thess. v, 13. 

This group of injunctions makes 
peace a goal to be won, a posses- 
sion to be acquired by an output of 
spiritual effort. It does not mili- 
tate against the idea of its being 
fruit. It is the fruit of the mar- 
riage of God's favor and our effort. 

TRom. U 7 

" Grace to you and peace from 
God our Father and the Lord 
Jesus Christ." See also: 1 Cor. i, 
3; 2 Cor. i, 2; Gal. i, 3; Eph. i, 2; 
Phil, i, 2; Col. i, 2; 1 Thess. i, 2; 1 
Tim. i, 2; 2 Tim. i, 2; Tit. i, 4; 

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©be peace of <5o& 

Philem. 3; 2 John 3; Jude 2; I 
Pet. i, 2; 2 Pet. i, 2. 

This as it stands is the distinctly 
Christian salutation. It is the per- 
petual memorial of the Incarnation 
and the Eesurrection. The Angel's 
song and the Saviour's greeting 
were always echoing through the 
souls of the early Christians. As 
compared with all other greetings 
it is decidedly the greatest. Com- 
pare it with our ' ' How do you do ? " 
A friend of mine always meets or 
leaves me with "The Lord love 
you!" 

The greeting of peace is pecu- 
liarly oriental in origin and use. 
Cf. "Peace be multiplied unto 
you" (Dan. iv, 1; Dan. vi, 25). It 
is the declaration of the absence of 
hostile feelings or intent. More 
than that. It is a high, the highest, 
162 



£be peace of <5o& 

expression of friendliness. In the 
distant past we can picture men 
who were meeting for the first time, 
or without knowledge of one an- 
other's character, crying out as 
they approached, " Peace be unto 
you." 

The Christian salutation finds 
its explanation in this traditional 
greeting. But it has in it the whole 
of Christ's exposition of peace. 
Peace is not only a lack of fear, the 
result of the removal of apprehen- 
sion and uncertainty. It is that. 
Fear is due to our sense of inability 
to cope with untried and hostile 
forces. Peace is more than reas- 
surance. It is a triumphant co- 
ordination that puts us in com- 
mand so that hostile forces are 
compelled to serve us and our in- 
terests. Captivity is led captive. 
163 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

We are allied, organically united, 
with all that is victorious and with 
every ultimate principle. Faith in 
God's superiority to anything in- 
imical that may happen and the 
certainty that all God is and has is 
at our disposal, dispels fear, for at 
once we achieve the victory that 
overcometh the world (society or- 
ganized apart from God). 

A salutation is a key note to the 
fellowship which it introduces— or, 
better, it gives out a theme. The 
peace salutation is the badge of the 
peace character. Our errand is 
that of our Master— to bring peace 
on earth, to introduce the peace of 
heaven into our own sphere of life 
and activity. The beginning is 
within ourselves (Eom. v. 1) . This 
must be, else we cannot move. We 
can give only what we have re- 
164 



©be peace of (5o& 

ceived and actually possess. One 
is struck with the abundance of 
peace in the much tried and per- 
secuted men who wrote the New 
Testament books. Peace bubbles 
from their lives and lips as water 
from a perennial spring. Is there 
any literature in the world so full 
of trouble and so full of peace as 
the Gospels? 

dfcatt. v, 3 

" Blessed are the peacemakers: 
for they shall be called Sons of 
God" (Of. Prov. xii, 20; James iii, 
18). 

If war is caused by misunder- 
standing—and it usually is— peace 
is brought about and maintained 
by understanding. Jl peacemaker 
must be a man of deep under- 
standing of both sides. Our 
165 



Zbe peace of <5o& 

Lord is the peacemaker between 
God and man because He knows 
each from within and reveals their 
deep potential unity. (See S. John 
xvii, 21.) Christ reveals God to 
man and interprets man to God. 

A peacemaker is indeed then a 
son of God in that he does Christ's 
own reconciling work. But they 
are rare people, are peacemakers. 
Their insight must be profound, 
their tact limitless, their wisdom 
not of this world. 

Everyone who follows Christ is 
by profession a peacemaker. The 
sphere in which each person works 
expands from a common centre. 
There is the home, society, the 
Church, the nation. The same 
qualifications are necessary for the 
peacemaker in the home and in the 
world of international relations. 
166 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

1. The peace aimed at is a fruit, 
not an end in itself. It is the re- 
sult of a right relationship. Peace 
considered as an end in itself is 
smoothness of a Uriah Heep tex- 
ture. It is oily peace. Oil on the 
troubled waters does not quell the 
storm. It deals with effects not 
causes. 

2. Again peace is more active 
than war. It is truer to say that 
a cessation of war will be the 
result of peace, than that peace 
will be the result of a cessation of 
war. 

3. The qualities necessary for 
peacemaking are : 

(a) Catholicity. We must know 
man as well as men. We must be- 
lieve that humanity is essentially 
one. There are those who say that 
the gulf, for instance, between East 
167 



Gbe peace of (Sob 

and West is impassable, and that 
no understanding friendship be- 
tween the two major divisons of 
the world is possible. A Western 
diplomat and peacemaker who 
knows the East through long ef- 
fective service says: 

"If there is any truth in the say- 
ing that man was created in the 
likeness of God, then it is certain 
that there is only one likeness, to 
which every race conforms . . . 
Our superiority consists neither in 
kind nor degree, but in the propor- 
tion which the good bears to the 
bad. The defects for which we 
are inclined to despise the Egyp- 
tians are, as I have said, identical 
with those which we possess our- 
selves."* 

"It is literally true that all men 

* « To See with Others' Eyes." By A. M. I. 1907. 

168 



Gbe peace of ©ot> 

are brothers, in the sense that all 
races in their main features closely 
resemble each other." 

(b) Understanding that can 
come only through self -identifica- 
tion, by the power of sympathy, 
first with these, then with those. 

This is a characteristic hated by 
the partisan. He sees only 
through the colored windows of 
his own little house. The catholic 
man frequents mountain tops and 
sees broad expanses lighted only 
by God's sunshine. He is not 
afraid of being misunderstood. 
But he is disturbed to find that he 
misunderstands. 

The word " entente" is a greater 
word, and expresses a greater 
thought, than "alliance." It 
marks an advance in diplomatic 
relations. Peace between nations 
169 



3be peace of ©o& 

should be the result of understand- 
ing, each by each, not of an agree- 
ment of more or less commercial 
significance. 

An understanding man is not 
blind to differences and peculiar- 
ities. He sees them but does not 
overestimate their seriousness. 

In international relations, the 
men who have been magnificent in 
their binding power like Albert 
Gallatin,* and Sir Thomas Bar- 
clay, t have been men of deep un- 
derstanding, and prodigious pa- 
tience. 

The world is hungering to-day 
for peacemakers of great stature. 
Never were they so needed. Fee- 
ble, sentimental pacificism only 

* " A Great Peacemaker, the Diary of James Gallatin 

1813-1827." 
f "Thirty Years' Anglo-French Reminiscences, 1876, 

1906." 

170 



©be peace of <5o& 

turns the stomach. It is often the 
result of a lack of virility and a 
symptom, if not of cowardice, at 
any rate of a decay of the heroic. 
On May 5, 1813, Albert Gallatin 
wrote : 

"I have made up my mind that 
I could in no other manner be more 
usefully employed for the present 
than on the negotiation of a 
peace."* His peacemaking was 
true at the core. There ensued one 
hundred years of peace between 
England and America. How much 
poorer and less intelligent than it 
is would the friendship between 
England and France be if Sir 
Thomas Barclay's work were 
eliminated! The pattern Peace- 
maker is Christ. Only in and 
through Him the peace of nations 

* "A Great Peacemaker," p. 2. 

171 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

and the peace of the Church is 
thinkable, let alone possible. A 
truly Christian peace among 
Christian nations— what a marvel- 
ous and beautiful thing it would 
be ! And it is to be. It is in God's 
purpose and is awaiting man's 
will. If as long ago as the days of 
Isaiah men could expect and pray 
for it, I would indeed be faithless 
were I to falter in a living hope or 
were to withhold even the little I 
may have to contribute to the has- 
tening of God's day. 

pbfU ix>, 7 

"And the peace of God, which 
passeth all understanding, shall 
guard your hearts and your 
thoughts in Christ Jesus." 

Those who have the peace of 
God will be ipso facto peace- 
172 



Gbe peace of <5o& 

makers. Peacemakers (i. e., sons 
of God) will ipso facto have the 
peace of God. 

No word of exposition is neces- 
sary here. This sublime blessing 
stretches its white, untiring wings 
over all who love and work and 
hope and pray. The peace of God 
is the sweetest mystic possession 
and the truest solace that the inner 
life can know. But it is more, far 
more, than a consolation. It is a 
conserver of strength, which makes 
and keeps the frail strong and the 
timid brave. Like God Himself it 
is beyond analysis and explanation 
—it passes all understanding, as it 
keeps its untiring guard over our 
hearts and thoughts in Christ 
Jesus. 



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